Sympathy for Monsters
by Tigrette-of-Fire
Summary: Sometimes men try to prey on women, and sometimes those men are titans, and sometimes those women are the Goddess of Death. In which Hela is Loki's daughter, not Odin's, and she won't take harassment sitting down or without back-up. The universe might also get saved in the process.
1. If Hel is a Teenage Girl

**Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel or the Marvel Cinematic Universe**

 **A/N: Well guys, I have zero self-control, and I'm starting an AU that's already shaping up to be _massive_. And I already have three other projects (two of which are also massive), and I'm not a fast writer (as any of you who've checked in on me for long enough know), and I'm probably going to regret this.**

 **This is also about the least canon-compliant thing I've ever written. Canon has been killed and picked over for the juiciest bits. This is especially not canon-compliant for _Thor: Ragnarok_ and _Avengers: Infinity War,_ and to be fair to fans of the former, it didn't really vibe with me. (I feel bad about that, because I loved the critique of colonialism it had. I just didn't enjoy it as part of the franchise). Biggest notice is that I've run the mythology route and made Hela _Loki's_ daughter, not Odin's. Valkyrie will be showing up though. Which leads into my next point: I've drawn inspiration both from Marvel comics and Norse Mythology for this fic, though I'm _mostly_ relying on Wikipedia for both. This is gonna get weird and blended.**

 **Oh, also important: I'm gonna touch on the predatory behavior of adult men towards underage girls in this. That's…really the nexus of Thanos's villainy here. Speaking from experience, as a woman not far out of teenager-hood, it's something basically all of us experience in some form or another, and I'm angry about it, so I've made it the villain of this story. I understand that this can be a triggering subject, and I want you all to have fair warning.**

 **Dedicated to my wonderful friend katlewis2000 over on Ao3.**

 **Edit 01/18/19: Fixed a couple of capitalization errors and modified one of Bucky's lines of dialogue to make it less clunky.**

There's a teenage girl arguing with Sarah at the front desk.

Normally, that wouldn't be enough to make Clint stop on his way back into the tower - he'd just bought himself a box of donuts from the bakery a few blocks away and he was planning to enjoy them - but something told him to stop. Like, seriously; his instincts were screaming at him that this girl was off. So now he was lurking in the lobby instead of finding the comfiest air vent and snacking.

Problem was, he couldn't figure out what was giving him pause. Yes, the girl did have some sort of punk vibe going on - with the leather trench coat, and the left side of her hair being silver-grey, and the too-much-eyeliner - but Avengers tower got all sorts of weirdos. It was in New York, of all places. And yes, the girl did have some impressive vitiligo - the left half of her face was death-pale and sort of mottled - but Clint wasn't about to judge someone for a skin condition. Still, it wasn't enough to have all of his battle instincts on alert. Whoever the kid was, she was just a teenage girl; no older than sixteen and - judging by her eye shape - of mixed Asian descent.

Huh, she really did have a left-right dichotomy going on. Her left eye was cloudier - cataracts, maybe? - than the right.

In any case, both the girl and Sarah were getting more and more frustrated. Sarah had that whole I'm-at-work-so-I-can't-strangle-you-even-though-I'd-like-to expression, and the girl was approaching _fucking pissed_.

"Miss, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." _Damn_ , how long had the kid been there to make Sarah use that tone of voice? "If you need to speak to someone, you can file a formal request—"

"Damn it!" the girl exclaimed, slamming her hand down on the desk. "I've told you, I'm here to see my uncle. It's _urgent_ —"

"All right, that's enough. Security, please escort this young lady off the premises."

"Come on, miss, move along—" a security guard went to lay a hand on the girl's shoulder. The girl's eyes went wide.

"Do not touch me!" A field of cackling, dark-green energy billowed out from her, tossing the guard back into the wall. Clint - and all the other security guards in the lobby - instantly had his gun trained on her. _Dammit,_ he really should never go anywhere without his bow.

The girl looked stunned, as if her own actions had caught her off guard. She swore, then sighed, and then straightened to her full height. Admittedly, it wasn't terribly much, but _man_ , the girl had a _presence._

"I am Hela, Goddess of the Dead. My uncle is Thor Odinson, Crown Prince of Asgard, and I am here to see him," her eyes gleamed with challenge. "Now, _let me through_."

Fuck, Clint really hoped Thor had another brother. Or a sister. Anything but fucking Loki having fucking _kids._ In the meantime, however, it fell to him to wrangle the probable-Loki-spawn. That's what he got for being the only Avenger in the room. Damn it.

"Hela," he called, and her gaze snapped to him. Her eyes were green, and Clint appeared to have been right about the left-eye cataracts. Regardless, her gaze was intense, and _fuck_ , he really didn't want to be doing this. He could live a lifetime without any reminders of Loki, thank you very much. "My name is Clint Barton; I'm a—a shieldbrother of your uncle's. I'm gonna have Sarah here call up and have him come down, okay?"

Well, Thor and the rest of the team were probably on their way down anyways after Hela's little magic show, but it was probably better to actively let her know they'd heard her. Pretenses of compliance keeping the situation de-escalated and all that; Fury would be proud.

No need to tell her the team would be coming armed and ready for a fight either. If she was at all clever, she'd be expecting that.

"Thank you, Clint Barton. My apologies for—"

"NIECE!" Well, there was Thor in the emergency elevator—and Tony, and Steve, and Nat behind him, all ready for a fight. Bruce was probably upstairs, waiting to see if a code green was necessary. The team, sans Thor, moved to encircle Hela. "Are you to tell me the cause of the disturbance?"

"Uncle!" Okay, wow, if Hela didn't just do a complete one-eighty from commanding presence to anxious teenager. "My apologies, Uncle, I was startled and—"

"Woah, woah," Tony interrupted, voice distorted through the Iron Man suit's speakers. " _Niece? Uncle?_ Please don't - oh my god - please don't tell me Reindeer Games actually has kids. I don't even want to think about mini-chaos gods running around trying be like dad and conquer the planet."

Of all things, Hela seemed to wilt.

"...I...understand that Father is a war criminal." Well, there went all hope of Hela not being Loki-spawn. "I saw the influx of souls into my realm after his siege on Midgard - I heard their wailing, I did the paperwork - and I—I would not be here, on the grounds he laid siege to, if I were not desperate. There is—the titan Thanos has set his sights on me, and in his crazed attempts to woo me he has been sending me...gifts."

"The Mad Titan?" Thor looked simultaneously incredulous and furious. "But he—"

"Is much older than I? Believe me, I know. Then there's the matter of his gifts. Entire planets slaughtered, Uncle, O Esteemed Avengers, and I know from his messages that he is planning something massive; destruction on a scale yet unfathomed. And as for me, I do not feel safe even past the gates of my own realm." Hela drew in a shaky breath, and to Clint's absolute shock, kneeled with her arms outstretched in surrender. "So I come with a warning, and seeking sanctuary, and— _please_ , do not abandon me to his unwanted attentions."

Oh god, she was just a teenage girl trying to escape some pervy old man. A pervy old man with apocalypse-causing powers. Clint cast his gaze around to his teammates faces, and apart from the impassivity of Tony's faceplate, found what he was thinking in each of their faces.

They'd be monsters to turn the poor kid away.

And now he was thinking of _Loki's daughter_ as a "poor kid."

Shit.

"...Okay!" Tony's faceplate snapped up after a pause. "So, I'm all for _not_ letting creepy apocalypse-pedophiles get their hands on teenage death-goddesses, and I'm sure you all feel the same, so I vote we let her stay. And by 'I vote' I mean that this is my tower, so the kid's staying."

Over on the floor, Hela sagged in relief.

"That being said," Tony continued. "After that little display of magic, I'm gonna have to suggest you waiting in a secure room for a bit. Sorry kid."

"That's fair." Hela shrugged, almost embarrassed. "I'd be suspicious of me too, after Father's...everything."

Clint snorted, almost smiling despite himself. That was one way of putting it.

"I'm also going to have to insist on you handing over your coat and belongings, Hela." Nat walked over to Hela, rational as ever and with a healthy side of caution, bless her. How much help it would be with magic in the equation was up in the air, but it was better than nothing. Hela nodded and shucked her coat, turning it, four knives, an individually wrapped candy, and a keychain canister of mace.

"If that's all, you can follow me," Natasha said.

Hela smiled.

"Lead the way."

* * *

Avengers tower had a number of secure rooms - security level one for testing out experiments or tech that might explode, security level two for housing 084s or whatever weird shit the team found in the field, and security level three that could house an assailant (or a stressed hulk) for a period of time. Clint was sure Tony had funnier names for each security level, but he hadn't gotten around to asking yet.

He should really do that. Tony's nicknames were hilarious, when they weren't targeted at him.

In any case, Hela was in the most secure of the security level three rooms, looking for all the world quite comfortable as she lay sprawled on the floor, and the team - that is, the original six - were crowded into the adjacent observation room. Of course, the rest of the team was present in a little more than spirit - video calls had been set up both to Rhodes and the Compound, the latter of which displayed a stock-still Barnes, Sam, Wanda, and Vision, not to mention a Pietro who was fidgeting so quickly his outline seemed to blur. Aside from that, no one moved.

"So we're giving Loki's daughter sanctuary in the tower." Bruce broke the stillness, taking off his glasses to rub at the bridge of his nose.

"Is there a problem, my friend?"

"What? Oh no—Thor _no._ What kind of person do you think I am? I'm just—I'm just _processing._ There's a lot of new information being thrown at me right now, including: confirmation that Loki is a parent," Wait, what? "And the threat _another_ potential apocalypse, apparently. The later of which I think should be our first line of concern."

" _Confirmation_ that Loki is a parent?" Clint blurted before he could stop his mouth.

"Well yeah," Bruce blinked at him. "Legends say he has a minimum of six - or eight, if some interpretations are right? - kids minimum. Possibly more."

 _Holy Shit_.

"Aye," Thor nodded. "Loki has eight children, to my knowledge."

 _HOLY SHIT._

"Did the rest of you - not you, Thor - not know?"

"Of course we knew! Not all of us are human disasters, Bruce."

"Hey! Fuck you, Sam."

"Hey, I hate to defend Clint here—"

"'Hate to defend…?' Hey Tony! Why do you hate to defend me?"

What was it, pick on Clint Barton day? Eh, he'd get Tony back for it.

"—But aside from Thor and Vision, who are exempt on the basis that they're technically not human, and maybe Rhodey, on the fact that he's Rhodey, _none_ of us can be exempt from human disaster status."

"Thanks, Tones."

"Oh my god, _guys_." Everyone present, physically or otherwise, turned to look at Natasha. "You heard Bruce. Apocalypse threat first, petty fighting after."

"But we can do the petty fighting later, right?" Pietro joked, having retrieved a bag of popcorn in the blink of an eye. "This is pretty entertai—OW!"

Wanda glared at her twin, hand at the ready to poke him again.

"Natasha is correct." The room took a dive toward solemnity at Thor's tone. "The mention of Thanos is concerning to me. Earlier, when I questioned Hela of his involvement...she assumed I was incredulous about his age and predatory nature, and while that is certainly true, I was and am more enraged at that than anything else. My shock came from another source"

Tony raised an eyebrow.

"Explain, Thor."

"Thanos is a legend, even to Asgard. Confirmation of his existence is concerning - he is called the 'Mad Titan' for a reason - and Hela is not the kind to lie about such things. To think he has targeted my niece..."

"So you're saying Hela's in a lot more danger than the rest of us thought," Steve cut in. Thor nodded, and there was a collective sympathetic wince. Steve straightened up. "I say we talk to Hela. We barely have any information as it is, and she's the only one who knows more. Better to have information to verify than talking in circles here and trying to fight Thanos blind."

Barnes snorted.

"That's rich coming from the guy who broke into the POW camp where I was being held _alone…_ "

"Seriously, Bucky?"

"Guys!" Rhodey cut in. "Focus! And in this case, Steve's right; we need to talk to Hela. That being said - Thor, what can you tell us about this guy?"

"Less than I would like to be able to. As I said, Thanos is more of a legend than anything else to my people - wakes of destruction, whispers of a name, rumors of children taken and of an army building. What I _can_ tell you is that Hela's claim of whole planets being slaughtered is not out of line with what evidence we _have_ seen of him."

Well, _fuck._

"Thor, if this guy is as bad as you say he is, I've gotta ask: why'd Hela come to us?" _Thank you_ , Barnes. That was a damn good point. "I mean, you guys are good - earth's mightiest defenders and all that - but for the most part you're a bunch of humans. Wouldn't it have made more sense for Hela to go straight to your dad? Asgard has a whole army, and there's, well, eleven of you. Twelve, if you count me"

Out of the corner of his eye, Clint saw Bruce wince. Directly in front of him, he saw Thor grow tense. Interesting.

"Hela cannot go to Asgard for aid." _God_ , Thor looked _so sad_. "My father...does not look kindly upon my nieces and nephews, and they and their mothers have often faced harsh judgement at his hand. Hela is banished from Asgard."

"I'd really been hoping that part wasn't real," Bruce whispered.

"And you didn't fight this?" Tony was incensed.

"I _tried,_ Anthony!" Oh shit, was Thor _crying?_ "This is one place where I have never seen eye to eye with my father, but his word is law. Any pleas either my brother or I offered fell on deaf ears, for my mother had foreseen that Hela and her brothers Jormungandr and Fenrir would have a hand in Ragnarok, and the Allfather would not risk such events coming to pass."

"...Did you ever try to help them? After they were…?"

"Aye, Wanda; I did. Loki and I endeavored to undo their sentences, but luck was not with us. As punishment for our actions, two other of Loki's sons Vali and Narfi, as well as their mother Sigyn who was at the time Loki's wife, were banished as well."

Shit, Clint was starting to feel bad for _Loki,_ of all people. Like, fuck that guy, he still wanted to put an arrow in his face, but objectively no one deserved to have that happen to their kids. God damn it, Clint didn't want to feel bad for Loki. He'd feel bad for the kids instead.

"Wait, Vali and Narfi were banished?" Bruce interjected. "They're alive?"

"...Yes, why?"

"Let's just say that's not what the myths say."

Clint opened his mouth to ask, but shut it when Natasha shook her head at him. He'd google it later. Judging by Bruce's...entire demeanor, it probably wasn't pretty and there was no need to make Thor hear it.

"Honestly, I think this is all the more reason we should talk to Hela," Steve cut in. "Not only do we need information, but we need to let her know somebody's in her corner."

Clint turned to look through the observation window at the goddess in question; he wasn't entirely sure, but it looked like she might have fallen asleep. Steve was right; they really did.

 **A/N: Buckle in for an absolutely massive author's note explaining the context of this AU.**

 **Regarding what bits of canon I've kept and what bits are being thrown out, it goes as follows: everything up until _Age of Ultron_ happens as canon. The major changes to _AoU_ are that Clint doesn't have a family (he's much more the human disaster we see in the comics), Bruce/Nat doesn't happen (though they are friends) and as such Bruce never ends up in space, Pietro doesn't die, and the Maximoff twin's backstory is _very different_. I haven't hammered out the specifics of that yet, but no way am I making two Jewish Romani characters work for HYDRA. They're also Jewish and Romani as far as I'm concerned (which means a "recast" is in order).**

 ** _Ant-Man_ happens as canon. _Civil War_ absolutely doesn't happen as canon, because I don't want to emotionally deal with the fallout of it. Some shenanigans with Bucky happen, and unfortunately T'Chaka still passes (because _Black Panther_ absolutely has to happen as is. It's too important). Bucky is rehabilitated and is now living at the Avengers' Compound.**

 ** _Spider-man: Homecoming_ mostly happens as canon, but moving day isn't due to Tony grief-selling the tower. It's just that the Compound is more convenient to house an increasingly large team. Avengers Tower still exists as a base for NYC based shenanigans and Stark Industries. I'm not sure exactly how Peter gets involved with the Avengers yet (I'll figure it out), but the point is it has happened by this point. Peter's around, and Tony is still his mentor/superhero dad.**

 **I don't know what I'm doing with _Doctor Strange_ yet, because I've thus far refused to watch that orientalist, white-washed nonsense. That said, Strange had an unfortunately large part of _Infinity War_ with the time stone and everything, so I'll have to figure out how to make it _not_ orientalist, white-washed nonsense. Which'll involve "recasting" both the Ancient One and Strange, which'll mean Strange needs some backstory revision, which means this'll be a LOT.**

 **Regarding Loki's kids, the whole _point_ of this AU is to have the team interact with them, so I'm obviously keeping Vali and Narfi alive. I'm also counting Eisa and Einmyria as Loki's kids for similar reasons. From what I've seen, it might be a misinterpretation that these two are Loki's kids (I don't know enough about Norse Mythology to say one way or another), and from what I can glean they're definitely cited as a _Logi's_ kids in some part of Norse Mythos canon, but I've also seen people claim Logi is an alternate spelling of Loki, so… they're here. Also, a bunch of Loki's kids are biracial because I said so. **

**Crossposted on Ao3**


	2. On Thanos's Wrongdoings

**Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel**

 **A/N: It's updating time, and in a turn of events that surprised even me, it's in a roughly reasonable timespan! I really wanted to finish this before the semester starts, and I managed to scrape by with a week to spare.**

 **Unfortunately, that also means I start school in a week, and God knows when the next time I'll be able to write for fun will be, so the next update probably won't be for a while (I'm taking _at least_ two labs this coming semester. I'm gonna die). Sorry. This is also a little exposition heavy, to which I also say sorry. I'm gonna try to come back and edit that later. It's just, well, as I said: I wanted to get this out before I went back. **

**Lastly, a trigger warning: this chapter contains Hela talking about being sexually harassed. It's not all that explicit, I don't think, but it's definitely more directly mentioned than last chapter, so I figured a warning was due. Don't worry though: Thanos and company are going to get what's coming for them. (I'm gonna talk a little more about why I'm writing this as the crux of Thanos's villainy in my concluding author's note, so feel free to tune in there).**

 **Edit 01/18/19: Fixed some capitalization errors and edited a line of Tony's dialogue to make it less clunky**

They sent Thor in first, so as not to startle Hela. He woke her gently, assuring her that he and the Avengers would offer her aid, and that they just wanted to ask her some questions to better do so. Hela nodded and agreed, and once she and Thor had settled comfortably against the back wall, the rest of the physically present team was waved in.

While Thor had been waking Hela, the rest of the team had been having a swift argument about who should open the conversation. They'd eventually settled on Bruce - who had made a slightly baffled expression and gave an equally baffled "why me?" - because he hadn't been one of the group that had come down to confront Hela in the lobby, and thus Hela would have no aggressive association with him.

Plus, Bruce's whole meek facade was disarming.

Actually, Clint was pretty sure the meek attitude wasn't a facade at all, but a genuine expression of crippling social anxiety, exasperated by the whole Hulk incident. Which was, ya know, fair.

Of course, once you got Bruce out of his shell a bit, he could be a real deadpan-snarker, but that was beside the point.

Tony and Nat nudged Bruce forward.

"Hey Hela," Bruce gave an awkward little wave. "My name is Bruce Banner, I'm an Avenger. It's nice to meet you."

"A pleasure, Master Banner."

"Thanks. Anyway, we've all agreed that we're going to help you, but we need some information from you to effectively do that. Would you mind answering some questions?"

"Not at all."

"Great! That's great. One more thing," Bruce fidgeted with his glasses. "We've got a handful more team members who aren't here right now. I, uh, don't know how much you know about Midgardian technology, but we could patch them in so they can listen to our conversation. We can even make it so they can only listen, so you don't get overwhelmed with new voices. Would that be okay?"

"...Is this a safe method of trading information? I'd rather this sort of thing not be public..."

"There's no need to worry about that, kid," Tony cut in. "I made this tech myself; it's secure. Nobody on earth—well, Princess Shuri could probably hack in if she felt like it, but one: she's really the only person who could, two: we and Wakanda are on the same side of this stopping apocalypses thing, so she'd have no reason to spy on our team calls, and three: she's a trustworthy kid. No way she'd leak this sort of thing to the public even if she _were_ listening in."

Hela hesitated before nodding.

"If the chances of eavesdropping are slim, and only potential eavesdropper could be an ally to our cause...I suppose I am alright with it. More than anything else, this whole thing is...personal. Embarrassing. I—"

Hela shook herself.

"The gifts began a few years ago. I didn't recognize them for what they were at first; at the time they were small groups of dead, arranged in odd ways that at the time had no meaning to me. Then groups of warriors, their names marked for Valhalla. I thought nothing of these too - the files of those claimed by the Valkyrie are sealed to me. All I do is sign to confirm them dead; the information goes to Grandfather—er, Odin.

"...Apparently I wasn't paying enough attention. The body counts rose - villages, islands, countries, then whole planets' worth of dead were crossing my desk at once. Something was clearly wrong, but still I did not know what or for why. Soon enough, _he_ began delivering corpses and letters to my realm's gates. The letters began asking for my hand, and the longer I ignored them—well, they never got explicit, but they carried the promise of a host of unsavory things."

Ew. Ewewewewew. That's the grossest thing Clint had heard in a while. Hela was what - sixteen? - or at least the Asgardian equivalent.

Fucking pedophiles, preying on teenage girls.

Again: Ew.

"Needless to say, I was deeply alarmed by the whole situation, and began investigating into who was behind it all. Despite the letters all asking for my hand, they never identified a sender. Thanos seems to have expected me to simply know it was him. I'm still not sure if that was poor planning or just arrogance." Hela gave a hysterical sort of chuckle, breathing far too fast, before cupping both hands over her mouth and taking a few deep breaths into them. Thor set a comforting hand on his niece's shoulder, and once Hela had calmed down enough to drop her hands, she gave him a small, thankful smile. "I contacted the Valkyrie to ask if any of those who they had claimed died in ways that fit Thanos's _modus operandi_. They offered their help in my investigation. I accepted eagerly, and I never should have, because Thanos—"

"He came after them. Had them slaughtered too. I don't know _how_ he has found the power to slaughter the _Valkyrie_ , but he _has._ One of them, bloodied and desperate, came to my gates to warn me. She lived long enough to tell me his name, and then—"

Hela stopped again to breathe into her hands. The team swapped glances, all unpleasantly tense.

"One of _his_ children struck her down—threw a dagger right through her abdomen. I traded blows with this Son of Thanos, but I was so stunned by the turn of events and… He overpowered me." Hela swallowed hard." He spoke of Thanos's plans for unprecedented destruction with reverence. Then, he grabbed me by the face, pressed a _kiss_ to my cheek, and said: 'from my father with love.'"

A small arc of electricity cackled out from where Thor's hand, white-knuckled, gripped Mjolnir, causing the rest of the team to take a step back.

"Niece, I swear on my _life_ that will split Thanos's skull - and that of this son. They will _never touch you again_."

Judging by Nat's expression and Tony's nodding along, they'd happily join in. Clint knew he would. Bruce too—there was a distinct green tinge of the Hulkish kind on his face. Clint couldn't get a good look at Steve from this angle, but he had no doubt there'd be zero persuading needed on that front.

You didn't fucking go after kids.

"Well, you'll have to settle for Thanos only," Hela smirked, and for the first time, Clint saw how she could be Loki's daughter. Low key, a little creepy. "His son is dead. He expected my attacking him after that, but certainly didn't count on the body of a dead Valkyrie attacking him too. They _never_ expect necromancy."

 _HOLY FUCKING SHIT._

"After that, I only took the time to clean myself up before coming straight here. I knew I couldn't handle this on my own; I needed Asgardian help beyond even the fighting prowess of the Valkyrie and, well, Uncle Thor is my best bet at getting it. Crown Prince of Asgard and all that. Odin would never move to help me alone," Hela made a sour expression. "But in the wake of this last threat—If anyone could convince Odin that this is serious, that mobilizing Asgard's army would be worth it, it's Uncle. I'd _really_ rather not see half the universe dead as some twisted gift for me, and—well, I'd really like to be safe, too."

Thor opened his arms in a clear invitation for a hug, and Hela took it eagerly. Thor gave great hugs; the whole team could attest to that.

The big guy just had a lot of love for his friends and family. Clint could respect that.

"You shall be safe, niece. I promise. Besides," Thor brightened up. "You came to the right place! Not only can I contact Asgard, but my team can offer you security as well. Humans may seem fragile, but they're tenacious and have a great capacity to overcome the odds. You're in good hands."

"I'm choosing to take that as a compliment," Nat laughed.

"It was meant as one! Your species is truly admirable!"

"Besides," Tony cut in, "Even if we _weren't,_ no way are we gonna sit down and let everyone else deal with Thanos after hearing all this."

"And we aren't the only ones who'd want to know about this kind of threat," Nat added. "I'll track down Fury; we all know he still has contacts, and we're gonna need all the help we can get."

"I'll see if I can contact King T'Challa then. No doubt he'd want to know about this sort of threat," Steve said.

"In that case, I'd like to contact Jor—er, Jormungandr. My brother. He's here on Midgard," Hela interjected. "Actually, he was my backup plan if I couldn't get in contact with Uncle Thor. The only thing is he's a pain to find, for someone so big."

"Your brother's the Midgard Serpent, right?" Bruce asked.

Okay, Clint was _definitely_ asking Bruce about that later.

"Yup. He's also really good at hiding himself. I thought I might have better luck scrying for him in closer proximity."

"Hela, do you want me to stay while you hunt down your brother, or would you rather I leave for Asgard immediately?"

"Um, I think I'd rather you leave sooner rather than later. No sense in waiting to warn Asgard's armies."

Thor nodded in agreement.

"Well, it sounds like we have a plan then," Tony interjected. "In the meantime, let's get you," he pointed at Hela, "feeling less like a prisoner and more like a guest. We can start contacting folks over pizza."

 **A/N: Buckle in for another long author's note, folks.**

 **I mentioned up top that I'd explain why I'm writing sexual harassment of a minor as the crux of Thanos's villainry, and while I'm gonna ramble about it, it can be summed up like this: the way adult men act toward teenage girls is literally the most terrifying part of being a teenage girl. I was lucky enough to be spared the worst of it, but as young as _middle school_ I was aware that my peers were being catcalled at the least.**

 **Think about that. _Middle School._ That's super fucked up. And this happens to _basically every woman and girl_ (it's also not a cis-girl exclusive experience. Trans girls and people who were/are regularly misgendered as female get this shit too). **

**The most frustrating part of all of _that_ is the fact that society at large doesn't take you seriously. People are unsupportive at best and belittling at worst. It sucks. So I'm writing Thor and the team of being really supportive (I'm also calling this brand of sexual harassment what it is, which is pedophilia, because folks don't like acknowledging that either), and I encourage you to be supportive of the women+girls in your life too if they come to you about this. As I had Steve say last chapter, it's important for us to know people are in our corner.**

 **As for why it's _this_ story it's being used for, it's because of my pre- _Ragnarok_ headcanon of Hela as a teenager combined with Comic!Thanos's obsession with the entity Death. It hit me that I could use that premise to vent out my feelings of the bullshit I saw and experienced as a teenager (which was not long ago _at all_ ), and here we are. **

**In other story-related news, I drew my version of Hela! You can find her over at my tumblr or my deviantART. She was supposed to be part of a larger reference piece with my designs for all of Loki's kids, but that just wasn't happening fast enough.**

 **I'm also trying to figure out what to do with the _moms_ of Loki's kids (sans, of course, Sleipnir, to whom Loki is the mom), particularly Angrboda. Sigyn and Glod/Glut are definitely showing up at some point, but Angrboda and her giantish heritage are complicating things.**

 **Also, while I mention Nat in relation to Bruce a few times this chapter, they are NOT in or going to be in a relationship. AoU really let me down – I'd been excited to see how they progressed as friends post Avengers 1, with Hulk having attacked Nat and all, and then we got…AoU. That being said, I'm still invested in what their friendship could've been, so they're buds in this.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	3. Loki Commits Crimes

**Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel**

 **A/N: Um, I know the implication last chapter was that I wouldn't have this one out for a while but… Let's just say that the positive response to last chapter was _motivating as all get out_ , so I put my nose to the grindstone and managed to write this in record time. **

**Seriously. I've never written something this quickly in my life.**

 **That being said, I start school in under a week, so the next update after this will likely take some time. I'm not normally a fast writer either, so…**

 ** _That_** **being said, thank you all so much for your support! There's nothing quite like knowing something you've made has been well-received. I really can't thank you all enough. Also, this chapter mentions Loki's attempted suicide in Thor 1, and I know that sort of thing can be triggering. I'll be sure to update the tags on this on Ao3 accordingly.**

 **Edit 01/18/19: Fixed capitalization and spelling errors and removed the small scene with Sif. I've figured out that having her not on Asgard at this moment fits the overall plot better. Also edited Hela and Fury's conversation a tiny bit.**

"You've never had pizza?" Arguably not the most tactful thing to say to a Norse god less than three hours after meeting them, but Clint's mouth worked faster than his brain sometimes.

Needless to say, this was one of those times.

Also, they'd been standing silently in the elevator for too long. He couldn't make it _more awkward,_ could he?

"I haven't." Hela seemed unfazed by the question. "I rarely leave Helheim, and while I _see_ the dead, they don't often talk about food in my presence."

"So, yes to leather trench coats, no to pizza," Tony quipped. "Makes sense."

"Exactly! Um—I'm afraid I don't know your name."

"Now _that_ doesn't happen every day," Nat teased lightly.

"It's Tony Stark, kiddo."

"Oh! So _you're_ Tony Stark! A few of the unworthy dead have cursed your name in recent years."

"I...don't know how to feel about that." Man, the look on Tony's face was _priceless_.

The elevator door opened with a _ding_ , and they spilled out into the Avenger's common floor.

"Take heart, Master Stark," Hela continued. "Though the reasons were once much darker, now it is often in the context of your spoiling their warmongering, or otherwise ruining some sort of nefarity. I've heard Uncle's name cursed for the same reasons; Malekith was _very_ disappointed that Uncle foiled his plot to plunge the Nine Realms into darkness."

Judging by the fact that Tony just looked more baffled, he still didn't know how to feel about that. Clint _really_ hoped FRIDAY was catching this all on video.

Also: who the fuck was Malekith?

"I've been particularly impressed with stories of your destroying your own weapons," Hela added casually. "It is very noble."

"...Er, Thanks?"

"Niece, I must depart for Asgard," Thor interrupted, likely intentionally saving Tony from more uncomfortable conversation. Thor had more tact than people expected. "I shall see you soon."

"Goodbye Uncle. Thank you for helping me." Hela lunged forward and grabbed Thor in a quickly-returned hug.

"Of course, Hela." With one last smile, Thor stepped back into the still waiting elevator - bless FRIDAY, reading the situation like that - and waved as the doors closed.

"Alright," said Steve, "Let's get pizza ordered and start contacting folks."

* * *

The Avenger's common floor was relatively barren, given that the moving home base to the Compound was almost done, but there were still enough supplies - namely plates - in the kitchen for a good, group meal. Nat immediately went to sit at the island, already clicking away on the screen-tabletop in a search for Fury by the time everyone else had ambled over.

"FRIDAY, call in our regular pizza order, would you?" Tony called.

"Sure thing, Boss."

Steve settled down at the island and pulled out his phone before freezing.

"You good, Steve?" Clint asked.

"Yeah, uh… I just realized I have no idea what the proper channel for contacting King T'Challa is. We're basically requesting a formal audience, even if it'll probably be via video call, right? How do we even _do_ that?"

"Fury'd probably know," Nat said, not looking up from her typing. "Peggy Carter did some work with Wakanda back in World War II - she's the one who earned King Azzuri's trust and got us for the vibranium for Cap's shield - and while she certainly never told SHIELD about Wakanda's tech prowess, if she even knew, I'd bet on her at least passing down some sort of emergency contact."

"And besides," Clint interjected, "if it really comes down to it—Cap, you and Tony still have King T'Challa's contact information from when you guys were rehabilitating Barnes, right?"

"Yeah, but this isn't exactly the same as King T'Challa helping us on a personal mission because he felt he owed us for helping hunt down his father's killer," said Steve

"I'm not saying it is. I'm just saying if it becomes an emergency situation, we can contact him that way. I think he'd really prefer to know about the world ending over how you let him know."

"That's fair."

"Aaaand I've got a contact," Nat interrupted. "Calling Fury as we speak."

The video call hologram projected up from the island.

"Romanoff?" Fury's one-eyed glare materialized. "I assume you've got a good reason for calling."

"Aww Nick," Tony stuck his head into frame, "You don't want to see us?"

"I'm supposed to be in hiding, Stark; the world thinks I'm dead. Contacting me like this compromises my position."

"Well, all of our positions are about to be compromised, so I wouldn't worry about that too much."

"What he _means,_ " Natasha elbowed Tony back out of frame, "is that we've become aware of a threat."

"What kind of threat."

"The killing-half-the-universe kind," Tony butted back in, "Thor's already gone to Asgard to get help from his one-eyed dad, so we figured we'd call our one-eyed dad."

"Tony, did you just call Fury ' _dad?_ '" Clint laughed.

 _Please continue the Brooklyn Nine-Nine bit. Please continue the Brooklyn Nine-Nine bit._

"...Maybe. What of it?"

 _Damn it, Tony. We watched that episode together, you traitor._

"In any case," Fury interrupted pointedly, "I want to know more about this threat. Who's your informant?"

 _Ah, shit._ Natasha might have remained stone-faced, but _everyone else in the room,_ which very much included Tony who was still in frame, surely hadn't. No way Fury'd missed that.

"Thor's niece," said Nat. "She's given us no reason to distrust her."

Fury sighed, put his head in his hands, and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like: _fucking Loki_. Then he squared himself.

"Can I talk to this niece?" No one missed that, despite the phrasing, this was not a request. Clint watched Hela square _herself,_ and take a step into frame. As she did, her clothing shimmered green, before morphing into leather armor just similar enough to Loki's to be uncomfortable, even if there was purple instead of green and a metal so silver it was almost white instead of gold.

If Fury was fazed by Hela's teenager-ness, it didn't show.

"I am Hela," she said, looking steady into Fury's hologram-eye, "Queen of Helheim, Goddess of the Dead." There was a heavy pause while Hela and Fury had a conversation via staring contest. "The titan Thanos has threatened to slaughter half the universe's population, though I do not yet know by what means. Regardless, I thought it prudent to issue warning."

"So you came to your uncle."

"Yes sir."

Fury sighed.

"Can you give me one reason to believe you're not lying? Your father is the God of Lies, after all."

Hela grimaced.

"I suppose not, Master Fury. There will always be a measure of a doubt." Hela looked tired, but she held firm. "I can, however, give you this: I stand to personally gain from Thanos's destruction. You and I both know that in this kind of situation, you can trust such things over altruism any day."

"And what do you stand to gain, Queen Hela?"

Oh fuck. Should they have been addressing her as _Queen_ Hela the entire time?

"Thanos seeks to make me his bride." There was a vicious glint in Hela's eye. "There is nothing I want less than that."

"Ah shit," Fury swore. "That kind of thing. Well, I like being alive, and I _don't_ like pedophiles, so you can count me in. But listen well, Lokidottir: _I've got my eye on you_."

"I wouldn't expect any less."

* * *

Though nothing was obviously different - except Heimdall's new dreadlocks, to which he paid a well-deserved compliment - something felt _off_ to Thor about Asgard's atmosphere.

The metaphorical kind, in this case. Thor was the God of Thunder, if it was the literal kind, it would likely be less of a _something_ and more of an identified problem.

In any case, it _was_ the metaphorical kind, which meant Thor couldn't put his finger on it.

At least, until he saw the _giant statue of Loki._ That was new, and meant that Loki was definitely not dead and definitely kicking around somewhere causing trouble. Apparently in a position that gave him enough power to make a giant statue of himself.

Asshole, making Thor think he was dead _again_.

It was also likely that Loki wasn't walking around _as Loki_. Thor would've heard about his brother _being alive_ if that were the case. He'd probably also know exactly where to find Loki in that scenario: back in the dungeons.

Loki's disguise must have been good to have fooled the Allfather for so long.

Alright. Straight to the Allfather it was then; first with the news of Thanos, then of Loki.

Actually, nevermind that last part. If the Allfather refused to ready Asgard's armies, Thor would need his brother to _not_ be in the dungeons. Loki was much more of a schemer than he.

In Thor's opinion, he arrived at the doors of the throneroom all too soon. He hadn't nearly hammered out exactly what he wanted to say, but loitering outside the doors would reflect poorly too, so he held his head high and pushed his way in.

It was immediately clear that not only was something off with Asgard, something was off with _Odin_. Odin was almost lounging on the throne—an all to casual act Thor knew his father would never commit.

Loki, however? Loki _absolutely_ would.

Which meant Loki had somehow deposed Odin.

How the hell he managed to keep _that_ a secret was a mystery.

Thor sighed.

"Leave us," he commanded the guards, and they left with little more than swapping glances. Once the last of them had gone, he turned a glare at the man on the throne. "Seriously, Loki?"

The image of Odin dissolved in a shimmer of green light, leaving an amused Loki sitting in his place.

"I'm impressed," Loki drawled. "You're the first person to call me out on this. Everyone else was held fast by the off-chance I really _was_ Odin, driven to new oddities by grief over a lost son."

"So that's how you got away with erecting a massive statue of yourself."

"Among other things," Loki smirked. "It's rather dashing, don't you think?"

"What? I don't care about the statue! I care about the fact that you've made me mourn you without cause again! I'd also care to know what you've done with father! Have you killed him?"

"Oh he's fine," Loki waved a hand. "I cast a discreet little sleeping spell, slapped those lovely magic-suppressing cuffs the Midgardians made me after I invaded on him - with my own modifications, of course. They wouldn't hold Odin otherwise - and took him to an equally lovely Midgardian institution known as a 'nursing home.'"

"You did _what?_ How did you come up with—nevermind. We have more pressing matters. I need to speak with fath…"

Actually, _no_. He didn't need to speak to Odin at all. Loki was perfectly able to mobilize Asgard's armies from his stolen position, and far more likely to do so in Hela's defense than Odin would ever be. Thor looked down guiltily.

 _I'm sorry father. You'll have to wait in this 'nursing home' a little longer_.

"Loki," Thor looked his brother firmly in the eyes. "Hela is in danger."

On the throne, Loki went utterly still.

" _What kind of danger_."

"The Mad Titan is real, brother—"

"How do you know of Thanos?" Loki's voice was sword-sharp. Not once breaking eye contact, he stood and descended the throne stairs. "How does _Hela_ know of Thanos?"

"How do _you_ know of Thanos?"

"That first time I 'made you mourn without cause?' That was not my intention. If I'd had my way you would have had every cause."

"What?"

" _I was trying to die, Thor!_ " Loki shouted. "I flung myself into the void; how more obvious can it get? But Thanos, he wouldn't let me. He found me, near dead in the nothingness, and decided I could be useful to him, said I could become one of his 'children.' A process that apparently includes no small amount of torture."

" _Torture?_ So he—" Realization hit Thor like a comet. "It was as Thanos the one who wanted the tesseract, wasn't it?"

"You're catching on," Loki sneered. "He wants _all_ the infinity stones, though he never felt need to say why. He gave me a mission, and I saw an out. The whole thing was of little consequence to me otherwise. Besides, if it meant making your precious Midgard my plaything, who was I to say no? Even failing as I did, the dungeons kept me out of Thanos's hands. Now tell me: _how does Hela know of Thanos?_ "

"He's targeting her. He intends to make her his bride."

" _Fuck!_ " A pulse of green energy billowed out from Loki, knocking Thor suddenly off his feet. " _I'll kill him!_ "

"You will face Thanos, even after all he has done to you?" Hope rose in Thor's chest. He pushed himself to his feet. "You will mobilize Asgard's armies?"

"This is for my daughter. If you think I would not rend skies for my children, you are more a fool than I ever thought." Loki was pale and breathing hard, green crackles of magic fluttering about his hands. Suddenly, he turned and began striding towards the door, shifting back into the form of Odin as he did so. Thor hurried to follow.

"Where are you going?"

"We will need more power than we currently have if we mean to fight Thanos." Loki's expression was displeased but determined. "We're going to fetch the Allfather."

 **A/N: You all know the drill by now. It's rambling author's note time.**

 **We've still got people to contact – and things to do on Asgard, for that matter – so expect the next chapter or two to be regarding that. However, I'm not sure if I should just pick up where I left off here on Asgard at the beginning of next chapter, or alternate back to the Avengers contacting Wakanda. I'm open to suggestions.**

 **After that, it leaves the hunt for Jormungandr, fetching Odin, and Fury's contacts before we're done with the set-up phase of this fic. It's…a lot of set-up, honestly. I'm also juggling some things re: Fury's contacts. Maria Hill and Carol Danvers will obviously be on the roster, as likely will Sharon Carter (though I can tell you this, Sharon/Steve isn't anywhere in my plans), but things beyond that get tricky. I haven't seen past season 2 of Agents of SHIELD, and I don't know if I have the motivation or time to catch up. However, I _really_ want to have Coulson (and Melinda May, honestly) enter the scene. We'll see.**

 **Also: I fucking love Nick Fury. He's a super interesting character to me; he's very much an ends-justify-the-means sort of guy, but I really think he's got a good heart, and he's canonically receptive to criticism (see Cap2). That being said: he's super hard to write for. Holy shit.**

 **Regarding _Thor: Ragnarok_ and how much it'll be coming into play considering that it didn't really vibe with me, I'll say this: while _Ragnarok_ didn't do it for me as a whole, there are definitely _parts_ of it that I liked, and I want to pay homage to the parts I did like. There is, however, the complication that the part I liked most, which was the fact that it criticized colonialism, doesn't really work in the context of this fic. It's honestly something I feel really guilty about. (I actually have a lot of weird guilty feelings about _Thor: Ragnarok_ in general _._ Like, I love the _fact_ that it was about criticizing colonialism. I really _wanted_ to like it because of that. I just…didn't.**

 **Anyway, I don't want anyone thinking I disliked _Thor: Ragnarok_ because it was anti-colonialist, or that I'm pro-colonialism or something. That couldn't be further from the truth, and if I can figure out a way to pay homage to _Ragnarok's_ anti-colonialist sentiment, you bet that will be happening. It's just a matter of me being able to figure out how. Fingers crossed.**


	4. The Boys are Back in Town

**Disclaimer: Still don't own Marvel**

 **A/N: I'd like to say a special thanks to Ao3 user canonballingthroughthesky for commenting a ton and motivating the shit out of me. There's not a lot to say at the beginning of this chapter beyond that it starts right where the last left off.**

 **Also, special thanks to Katlewis2000, my friend who this fic is dedicated to, for beta'ing this chapter for me!**

 **Edit 01/18/19: Fixed a few spelling errors.**

"Guards!" Loki-as-Odin bellowed, "Fetch the boys and send them to the stables. Have horses prepared for the lot of us."

"The boys?" Thor asked. Loki grinned at him, the expression ever more unsettling for his wearing the Allfather's face.

"'Among other things,' Thor. 'Among other things.'"

Well, leave it to Loki to be cryptic. Thor couldn't even remember the specifics of the phrase his brother was referencing; there had been far more important things to discuss. He had little time to ponder the thought, however, before Loki was speaking to him again.

"Tell me, where is Hela? And don't just say 'on Midgard.' I mean: where is she _exactly._ "

"New York, at Avengers' Tower."

"You left my—you left Hela with _the Avengers?_ After everything her father's done to the realm they've sworn to protect?"

"And they've sworn to protect Hela as well." Thor levelled Loki his most reassuring stare. "They do not hold children accountable for their parentage."

"Unlike some people," Loki gestured down at himself—or more accurately, at the false image of Odin. Thor winced.

"Yes; unlike some people. Perhaps that is why Hela appealed to them as well."

"What do you mean?"

"Well... _you_ haven't exactly had a history of looking favorably on _Loki's_ children. Perhaps, if she thought leaving Helheim would be considered a break in the terms in her banishment…"

"But Asgard wouldn't dare launch an assault on Midgard— _especially_ not on its heroes," Loki's eyes were wide. "Not when her father - our responsibility - attacked them. Not while we're still in their debt. _Clever girl_."

"I thought so too. Why wouldn't she be, though? Not only has she been a queen since childhood, she's also my brother's daughter."

Loki rolled his eyes, but there was a subtly pleased air about him.

Point to Thor, in the brotherly-reconciliation game.

The pair strode out into the stables to find a pair of Einherjar supervising the preparation of three horses, one of which was Thor's usual mount, and all of which were of royal grade. Sleipnir, however, was noticeably absent.

Where _was_ Sleipnir anyways? Thor missed his nephew, even if they couldn't really talk. He was about to ask, when—

"UNCLE THOR!"

Thor turned in time to see a smaller body launch itself at him, and brought out his arms in time to catch the individual. He was promptly wrapped in a tight hug. Blinking, he looked down to find a stocky, tan-skinned adolescent boy with _very familiar_ monolid eyes.

"Fenrir!"

The boy grinned.

" _Fenrir!_ " Thor let out a booming laugh, scooping his nephew up off his feet and swinging him around. "You were so tiny when I last saw you like this! And _look at you!_ You've grown so strong! Your—er, did the Allfather free you?"

"Uh...not _exactly_." Fenrir waffled back and forth. "Uh, when grandma died, the magic binding me faded and I booked it out of there. 'Cause, you know, I figured if grandma was dead, there was nothing stopping Odin from killing me. But! Uh…. _grandpa_ ," here, Fenrir broke into a series of unsubtle winks. _Norns_ , Fenrir hadn't inherited Loki's ability to lie at all. "Had a change of heart."

"I see!" It was treason-adjacent to even think it, but Thor was grateful for Loki's displacement of Odin. "Well, I am glad of it. And—Oh? Who is this?"

A short distance away, stood another youth. He was gangly - taller and wispier than Fenrir, though roughly the same in age - with hazel eyes, mousy-brown hair, and no small amount of freckles.

"Um, Hello, Uncle Thor." The youth gave a little wave. Thor blinked.

" _Sleipnir?_ "

The boy smiled wide, blushing a little. Thor lunged forward, using an arm to sweep Sleipnir up into an embrace as well. He hoisted both boys up into the air.

"By the Norns - I've _two_ of my favorite nephews instead of one!"

" _All_ of your nephews are your favorite nephews," Fenrir rolled his eyes, reaching an arm over to flick his uncle in the head. Thor's only reaction was to grin wider.

"Well, how could I choose between the greatest nephews the Nine Realms could offer?"

"I'm well and glad you're happy to see each other," Loki interrupted, "But I'm afraid there are urgent matters to attend to. It would be wonderful if we could get to riding."

"Someone's grumpy," Fenrir laughed. "Maybe it's the itching powder I put in his shoes this morning."

"I caught that, Fenrir Lokison," Loki looked quite displeased, and for once the expression fit Odin's face. "Do not try that again."

"Aww, boo."

"He's right though," Thor cut in, nodding at Loki. "The situation at hand _is_ urgent. Besides, the sooner we get to where we're going, the sooner you'll get to see your sister."

"Hela's going to be there?" Fenrir exclaimed. "Then let's _go!_ "

* * *

"HI HEIMDALL!" Fenrir shouted as they approached the rainbow bridge. He was panting hard, having leapt from his horse to run in his lupine form halfway to the trip. Even though he had returned to aesir form, it was obvious that his tail was spiritually wagging as he bounced up to Asgard's gatekeeper. "Look! Uncle Thor is here!"

Fenrir pointed back at Thor, who was riding up with the rest of the group. Thor raised a hand in greeting. Sleipnir - who, as he was still unsteady in his aesir form, was riding with Thor - gave a little wave.

"I see," said Heimdall, a blink-and-you'd-miss-it glimmer of amusement in his eye. He nodded his head respectfully. "Prince Thor, Allfather."

Heimdall had mastered his neutral expression long before Thor had been born, but something in the man's expression made Thor suspect Heimdall was very aware of Loki's deception. Or maybe that was logic talking - Heimdall saw _everything_ , a fact that Asgard used for security. Thor and Volstagg had also made use of it during the Great Hide and Seek Fiasco of their childhood, when Loki had hidden in the palace ventilation and Fandral had climbed in after him, getting them both stuck.

Actually, they'd needed Heimdall's help to find Hogun that day too, but not because he'd been stuck anywhere. Hogun was just better at being silent and absolutely still than anyone had a right to be.

"Hela Lokidottir is on Midgard," Loki said as he dismounted his horse. "Tell me exactly where she is."

"Of course, your majesty," Heimdall nodded, gaze focusing on something far beyond any of them at the moment. "She is at the Avengers' Compound, in the state of New York."

"Send Princes Fenrir and Sleipnir to her. Prince Thor and I will be going to Shady Acres Care Home, in New York City proper. Place us down somewhere discreet, if you will."

Heimdall nodded in acknowledgement and sunk Hofund into its stand. The observatory whirled around them, energy reaching up from the sword like branches of a tree to guide the Bifrost's aim.

"The young princes first, your majesty," Heimdall said.

Loki nodded, nudging Fenrir and Sleipnir forward, the former bouncing with excitement. In a flash of light, the two were whisked away down the rainbow bridge. After a moment, the observatory shifted again.

"And yourselves, my lords."

Thor and Loki stepped forward. In a flash of light of their own, they too left Asgard.

 **A/N: A little shorter than last time – sorry about that. Also, there's gonna bit a bit of flipping back and forth between Thor & Loki and Hela + the Team in the next couple chapters. A bunch of stuff happens synchronously, so it's kinda necessary. Sorry if it gets a little confusing. **

**I'm having some trouble getting the high-brow Asgardian speech right (or rather, existent). Some of that this chapter is that Fenrir is not exactly high-brow anything, considering a: his personality of hyper-as-all-get-out and b: he entered adolescence in imprisonment, but I'm also just not that good at writing it. I'm working on it.**

 **Lastly, hope you enjoyed the bit about the Great Hide and Seek Fiasco – it was one of my favorite bits of this chapter to write. I was pretty bummed they killed the Warriors Three (and didn't mention Sif) in Thor: Ragnarok, so have some fun childhood anecdotes for them.**

 **See ya next time!**


	5. Meet the Family

**Disclaimer: As always, Marvel is not mine.**

 **A/N: It's fall break, I've got time to write again, and so I present to you another chapter of** ** _Sympathy for Monsters_** **. This chapter is actually about double the length of the previous chapters, which I'm pretty excited about. It's also got a whole bunch of stuff I want to comment on in the this-is-how-this-world-differs-from-canon sense. That's all in the ending author's note, as per usual, but seeing how bulky those have been, I'm starting to think I should make those comments as tumblr posts and (at least on ao3) link them through. We'll see (and please let me know if you have any opinions).**

 **Also, Iron Dad rears his head this chapter. You're welcome.**

 **Lastly, thank you to my friend Midnight_inParis on ao3 for doing a bit of beta'ing for me! It means a lot!**

 **Edit 01/18/19: Just fixing some spelling errors**

Hela decided pizza was a truly excellent Midgardian creation. The Avengers' regular order apparently consisted of multiple pies, each topped with different foodstuffs. She'd tried a number of them - all quite satisfying - but decided that her favorite was the kind with broccoli on top. Bruce Banner had suggested she try it with something called Sriracha, which turned ofut to be a spicy red sauce that Hela found herself quite fond of.

Tony Stark had bemoaned Banner's suggestion, saying that using broccoli as a topping was a violation of pizza's intended nature as unhealthy. Banner, in response, had flicked a piece of broccoli onto Stark's plate, much to Stark's chagrin and Natasha Romanoff's amusement. Clint Barton had seemed torn between being offended on Stark's behalf and laughing.

The Avengers were a fun bunch. Their company did wonders for her mood, even if they were a little wary of her; they hadn't returned her weapons, after all. It wasn't anything she wasn't used to though, and awash in the yellow, Midgardian sun, it was beyond inconsequential. It had been so long since she'd been under a blue sky - the sun of Helheim's system had long since gone cold - and if she were honest with herself, and she made a point of being so, there was nothing quite like it. Dread Queen or not, she'd always miss this sort of light.

In that vein, her compliments to whoever had decided to use so many windows in building Avengers' tower. She appreciated it.

Besides, there were more interesting things to think about. She hadn't expected to be seeing Nicholas Fury again - fascinating man, that one. The last time they'd met, he'd let his knowledge of her parentage couple heavily with the facts of what her father had done to sway her in his favor. It had been ballsy - and heartbreakingly effective, curse her soft conscience - to challenge a god in such a way, and frankly, Hela respected that level of gumption, even if she didn't appreciate being manipulated. It was a shame those transactions ended with a pact to pretend they'd never happened.

With Fury being the Avengers' go-to, Hela wondered if they knew the man he'd bargained off her desk.

"Hey, Hela." Tony Stark's voice broke through her musings. "You okay over there, kid?"

"Just fine, Master Stark. I was only admiring the scenery."

"Well, don't get too comfortable. We were just discussing heading upstate so you could meet the rest of the team."

"We figured it'd be best to get that out of the way before Fury's request to Wakanda goes through," Steve Rogers added. "We should probably have the whole team present when they contact us."

"A sound decision. It's always best to present a united front, even when meeting with allies. It's all the better for persuading them to stay united with you." Hela gave a big smile. "Tell me, how are we getting upstate? Are we taking one of Midgard's self-propelled, metal wagons?"

"Nah, we're not taking a car," said Stark. "We'll be taking a quinjet."

* * *

A quinjet turned out to be an airship for travel within an atmosphere - not all that different from one of Asgard's skiffs that way, even if the quinjet was slightly larger and enclosed. Barton and Romanoff took the cockpit, and Hela settled in with everyone else in the hold. She was just contemplating asking Banner for the box of remaining pizza slices when Rogers spoke up.

"So," he began, amicable but clearly trying to fill the silence. "Earth - Midgard, sorry - treating you well so far?"

"Wow, Steve," Stark snorted, amused, not looking up from his handheld device. Banner, meanwhile, noticed Hela eyeing the pizza box and leaned to hand it over.

"What? I'm just trying to be polite."

"It's fine, Tony Stark; I appreciate the kindness," Hela smiled. "Midgard has been treating me quite well, largely because of yourselves. Many thanks."

"Aah, no need to thank us," said Stark. "It's kind of our jobs - we're supposed to be 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes' and all that."

"That doesn't require you to be kind, so please accept the thanks anyways. With my parentage being...what it is, I'd expected having a harder time."

"I'll admit, it's a little weird, but…" Banner paused, cleaning a glasses-lens with the hem of his shirt. "I don't think any of us are too fond of blaming kids for their parents' actions as a concept."

There was a murmur of agreement from the other two. Something warm and like relief flooded through Hela. Her Uncle Thor had always had a way of surrounding himself with people who had something fundamentally good about them - she only wished she could have come to them not to gain allies, but to make friends.

However, that wasn't the case. As it stood, she _needed_ allies like that.

"Well, thank you anyways. Not everyone thinks the way you do."

In her mind's eye, she saw the Allfather passing judgement. She remembered cowering on the throne room floor behind Jor, Mother slumped half-conscious and in chains to their right, with only Grandmother preventing a banishment from being an execution. Father pleading and Uncle Thor raging. Courtiers whispering.

 _Giantess. Half-breeds. A stain on the royal house of Asgard._

 _Harbingers of Ragnarok._

 _Just children._

Unbeknownst to Hela, the three present Avengers swapped concerned looks.

"Well, uh," Stark broke the silence. "Like I said: 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes.' Figure we should look above that sort of thing if we're gonna be any good at it."

"He's right, you know." Romanoff called from the cockpit. "And I don't say that very often, so relish it, Stark."

"Have you been listening this whole time?"

"Of course she's been," Banner interjected. "She's _Natasha_. She's always listening."

"Also, you guys are _right there_ ," said Barton, amused. "I know you know the average distance an un-enhanced human can hear, Tony; you literally made my hearing aids."

"Shut it, Birdbrain."

"Never."

* * *

"Welcome to the Compound," Rogers said, smiling slightly as they exited the quinjet. A grin crawled up Hela's face as she took it in. Not only did the building next to the landing pads feature extensive glass walls - Hela was already looking forward to waking up to sunlit windows - but the sprawling expanse of the Compound was surrounded by trees and covered in grass. It had been so long since she'd seen plants growing organically. Unlike Helheim, there was no need for archano-technological biospheres here.

In short, it was wonderful. The part of her that was only an eight-hundred year old adolescent instead of a queen wanted to go lay face down in the green expanse.

As tempting as that idea was, she resisted.

Hela followed the assembled Avengers into that glassy neighboring building. They ambled up some stairs to what seemed to be an entrance hall and found a small number of people gathered in front of a stylized letter A.

"Well Hela," Stark swept an arm toward the group in presentation. "Meet the rest of the Avengers."

At those words, a tall, dark-skinned man with kind eyes stepped forward from the group and extended a hand.

"James Rhodes," he said. Hela, remembering Nicholas Fury's explanation of the custom at the end of their deal, reached forward to take his hand and shake it. "It's good to meet you, Queen Hela."

"An honor to meet yourself, James Rhodes - and please, there's no need for formalities. I am not here as a queen, but as a niece seeking help from her uncle and his shield-companions." Hela smiled - her political smile, yes, but with genuine emotion behind it. Rhodes seemed like a good man.

"Speaking of people named James," another man stepped up, this time pale and equipped with a metal arm. He looked concerningly tired. "I'm James Barnes. Call me Bucky."

"And I-" yet another man nudged Barnes - Bucky - out of the way. Bucky gave an indignant _"hey,"_ but the way he rolled his eyes seemed good natured, as did the mischievous half-smirk on the new man's face. Hela was the God of Mischief's daughter; she knew how these sorts of things looked. She stifled a grin her own. "Am Sam Wilson. I'm the Falcon."

Hela blinked, halfway to shaking his hand.

"You can turn into a falcon? I was not aware Midgard possessed such magic. That is very impressive, Master Wilson."

"No, no," Wilson chuckled. "My _code name_ is 'the Falcon.' I can't turn into one. That'd be cool, though."

"I see! Apologies for the assumption. Do you all have epithets?"

"Sure do. Tony over there," Wilson pointed. "Is called Iron Man. Bruce is the Hulk - long story - Nat's Black Widow, Clint's Hawkeye - the inferior bird..."

"Hey!"

"I'm Quicksilver." A new voice said suddenly from her right, and Hela jumped, fingers glowing green. A young man, hair silver-white despite his age - had all but _materialized_ at her side, grinning. "Pietro Maximoff. I'm the older twin."

"Forgive my brother, he's an idiot." The only woman who'd been among the group walked up. "I'm Wanda. They call me Scarlet Witch."

"So there _is_ magic on Midgard?"

"I guess," Wanda shrugged. "I don't know if it's magic like you know it, but…"

"She was born weird," Pietro butted in smugly. Wanda elbowed him and rolled her eyes. Hela decided she liked the twins; their dynamic reminded her of her own siblings' - Eisa and Einmyria's, in particular.

"I was born with _powers_ , and so were you. Mine are just more - psionic, I guess? At least sort of. I don't know what else to call them _but_ magic."

"Well, I am sure we could investigate it. My parents are both skilled mages, and my brother Jor - who I hope to get in contact with, for he's on Midgard too - is quite the scientist. I'm sure that we could puzzle it out."

"I'd like that. As it is, I don't feel like I understand all that much about myself. Meeting the team has helped a lot, but…"

"Speaking with an actual mage could be useful?"

"Yeah. That sounds about right."

The two smiled at each other.

"Oh!" Wanda exclaimed. "I've been taking up so much time and - Vis, get over here!"

Oh. That was interesting.

The man walking over was human-patterned as far as body plan went, but was visibly not so. His skin was red-purple, inlaid with grey ridging around what would have been his hairline. Hela was also nearly positive he wasn't organic, judging by the plasticine sheen of his skin. Most fascinating, however, was the yellow stone crowning his forehead. Her bones hummed - a feeling not unlike anxiety - as her magic reacted to its presence.

An Infinity Stone.

Did the Avengers know what that was? Any mage worth their salt would know it by feeling, but Uncle Thor was no mage. Certainly they couldn't, for they'd never have housed it within a man. An Infinity Stone was too much for any one individual to hold - if it didn't tear them apart, having that much power at one's fingertips was naturally corruptive. There was a reason Infinity Stones were locked in vaults or guarded by entire orders and laws whenever they were discovered. Even then they posed risks.

"Do you know what that is?" she asked bluntly, ignoring the man's outstretched hand. Perhaps it was undiplomatic, but more pressing things were at hand. The room went quiet.

"Pardon?" The man blinked, looking rather like a kicked animal. Hela immediately felt guilty.

"My apologies," she nodded her head at him. "I'm forgetting my manners. I am Hela Lokidottir. I swear I meant no offense, I was only concerned for your safety."

Not entirely true, of course. She was more concerned about safety on a planetary level - though the man's individual safety, should his heart prove to be true, was definitely in the ken of her worry - but there was no need to say that.

"My safety?"

"The stone in your forehead - do you know what it is?"

"Not entirely, I admit. Thor tells me it is called an Infinity Stone-" So Uncle _did_ know what it was. "-But I know little of what that means in the grand scheme of things. What I do know…" the man trailed off, looking solemn. "I know it is very dangerous. I also know it is part of what allows me to...be, really."

Well, that was unexpected.

"I'm sorry. I'm afraid I don't understand."

"I am not a natural-born human, Hela Lokidottir. I-"

"I mean duh," Pietro interjected. "You're _purple_ , Vision."

" _Pietro,_ " Wanda groaned. Hela thought Pietro a lot like Clint.

"As I was saying," the man, Vision, took the reins of the conversation again. "I am not natural-born. I am...an android, I suppose. A vibranium body inlaid with the consciousness of two artificial intelligences and this Infinity Stone to make something that is uniquely me."

Of all the ways Hela'd expected this conversation to go, this wasn't it.

"You are...a soul built upon the energies of the Infinity Stone?"

"Essentially, yes. And the artificial intelligences, as I mentioned."

Oh, the assumptions she had made. This was not a man who had chosen to claim great power. Instead...Instead she had cast judgement on a man for the circumstances of his birth and for events that may never come to pass.

In her mind's eye, the unforgiving face of the Allfather stared down at her.

"It's a technologically created consciousness, kid." Stark cut in, taking her silence as confusion. The distraction was a welcome one, and to be entirely honest, Hela did need clarification. She also found, now that she had been distracted, that the rest of the team avidly watching her and Vision's conversation. "Vision is mostly patterned off of JARVIS, who was my longest running - and most advanced - AI."

 _What?_

"You…" Hela was flabbergasted. "You _created_ a _soul?_ "

"I, uh - yeah, kinda." Stark shrugged. "It's not magic! Don't listen to what your uncle says about it. It's _science._ "

Quite frankly, Hela didn't believe him. That sounded like magic to her, though the lines were admittedly blurry. By the Norns, what kind of mages did Midgard have - what kind of mage was _Stark_ \- to achieve such a feat? Hela was a necromancer; she knew how difficult soul magic could be.

Hela shook her head. She was getting distracted. The matter of the Infinity Stone still needed to be addressed, and if she had her way, it would be done in a manner that would not shame Vision's character. He didn't deserve to know how that felt.

She'd play up her secondary concern, then.

"You mentioned that you know the Infinity Stone is dangerous, and it is. Such things can be used to conquer worlds. What they could do to a body, especially imbedded in one…" Hela shuddered. "Let us just say I am glad for the unconventional circumstances of your birth. My worries were unfounded."

Vision smiled at her.

"I'm glad to hear it." He extended his hand for a shake, and Hela gladly took it. Crisis averted. The room seemed to sigh in relief.

"Now that _that's_ out of the way," Wilson interjected. "Is anyone gonna tell her Vision's kind of her cousin?"

 _WHAT?_

"Yes, um," Judging by Vision's expression, he would have been blushing if he were made of flesh and blood. "The last step in my creation was Thor shocking me to life with his lightning."

"His name is legally Vision Jarvis Banner Cho Stark Thorson," Barton added.

"...There is clearly a story there."

"You have _no idea_."

Hela was _so_ finding out about that later.

"Wait a moment. Vision, as you are Uncle's son, that puts you in the line of succession for the Asgardian throne, does it not?"

There was a pause, and then the room erupted into pandemonium.

"HOLY SHI-"

"-Vision's a _PRINCE-"_

"I need to sit down-"

"Ah," Vision looked stunned. "I haven't really talked with Thor about that. I'm not terribly interested in the concept, but as it currently stands...my answer is a solid maybe."

"That might be worth talking to Uncle about, my good cousin," Hela chuckled.

The corner of Vision's mouth quirked up and he opened his mouth to respond, only to be immediately silenced by a bright flash of rainbow light. The Bifrost; had Uncle returned so soon? She and the Avengers crowded towards the windows to see.

Hela's eyes went wide. Where she'd expected Thor stood two adolescent boys, not much younger than herself. More importantly, she thought she recognized the shorter. He was older and taller, yes, but even four-hundred years of separation couldn't wipe her brother's face from her mind.

" _Fenrir?_ "

She bolted towards the door.

* * *

Tony could admit, he hadn't expected Hela to lose all sense of decorum and take off towards the two boys standing on the Bifrost landing pad. She'd been remarkably composed up until then, all things considered. Yeah, it was definitely marked with flashes of teenagerness and bouts of silent staring that spoke of having one rough day, but even with her initial, weird reaction to Vision and his Infinity Stone, Hela had largely come across as someone trying to make a good impression. This, however, was more like the Hela that'd been arguing with Sarah at the Tower's reception desk: desperate and at least a little frantic.

That kind of sucked for him and the team, though, because they had to scramble to follow her. The last thing they needed to do was _lose_ a possibly panicking, probably traumatized, teenage death goddess - Tony was sure he could speak for the rest of the team on that front. He didn't even want to think of the chaos a distressed necromancer could wreak on New York. Also, Thor would be _pissed as shit_ if they didn't take care of his niece, so there was that.

It turned out that none of them should have worried. Tony - unlike Clint, for some fucking reason that _oh_ , yup, probably had something to do with trauma - had read up on his mythology after meeting Thor, and if the myths were at all correct, that was _definitely_ Hela's brother. If someone had told 2007 Tony that he'd be relieved at seeing a fourteen-ish year old looking boy turn into a giant wolf and run in his direction, he would've laughed in their face. Who would've thought.

Beside him, Bruce winced hard.

"You okay, Brucie?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. Hulk just screamed ' _PUPPY'_ at full volume."

"I never knew Hulk liked dogs."

Bruce shrugged.

"Me neither."

Said giant-wolf-probably-Fenrir-Lokison had since collided with Hela and was trying to lick her face. It shouldn't have been hard, considering the wolf was literally as tall as she was, but Hela was dodged expertly and went into hug the wolf's neck instead.

"Brother," she said as she pulled back, grinning widely. Tony was pretty sure that was the first fully genuine smile he'd seen on her face. He'd spent enough time in front of the press to know a stilted smile from a real one.

Speaking of which, was he the only one who'd thought Hela's conversation with Fury was a little weighted? He'd have to ask Nat for a second opinion.

"HELA!" the wolf cried, bouncing happily around the girl - and yeah, it _was_ weird hearing a wolf speak English. "I've missed you!"

"And I you, Fennie," Hela said, leaning forward to press her face against her brother's snout. "Look at you! You're not a puppy anymore!"

"It's only been four-hundred years, sis," Fenrir rolled his eyes. "It's not like people grow in that kind of time or anything."

"Of course, of course," Hela was distinctly misty-eyed, and Tony fought the compulsion to look away from the scene. He felt like he was intruding. "Still, I've missed you."

Hela stepped back and opened her arms for a hug. Fenrir bounded forward, shifting back into humanoid form at the last second, and catching his sister in a tight embrace. In this form, Fenrir was shorter than Hela, though they shared the same mixed-East Asian-looking features. His skin was a shade or two darker, and most notably, his hair was a solid, dark brown compared to Hela's black-and-white.

"Hela," Fenrir grinned, pulling back from the hug and pointing toward the other boy he'd arrived with. "Would you believe me if I told you that's Sleipnir?"

Tony recognized that name. By the look of it, Sam did too.

"Okay, that kid is _definitely_ not an eight-legged horse."

Hela, meanwhile, had run forward to her other brother - who had remained at the Bifrost landing pad- with Fenrir hot on her heels. The team watched as she collided with the boy, gathering him up in a hug and swinging him around.

"Look at _you!_ Not a colt anymore and in aesir form too! I—"

Tony's phone buzzed, distracting him from the scene at hand. Caller ID read: Peter Parker. What was the kid doing calling him - he usually texted. Was he in some sort of trouble?

Oh no. What if Peter was _hurt?_ And out of the suit too - Karen would've told FRIDAY who would've told him and—

"I gotta take this," he said to Bruce, who nodded absently. "Hello?"

 _"_ _Mr. Stark?"_

"Pete? You okay?"

 _"_ _Oh yeah! I'm fine,"_ Tony let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. _"It's just, um, do you know anything about some big staircase opening up in the street in Manhattan?"_

"What?"

 _"_ _Oh shi-I mean, oh no! So, uh, I guess you don't know. That's not good. There was a big staircase opening up in the ground down by the tower. It's closed up now, but the police have been freaking out It's been all over the news, Mr. Stark! They said someone walked out of it and-"_

 _Oh._ Realization hit Tony like a punch from the Hulk.

"Pete," he interrupted. "I've got an idea what happened - Hey Hela!"

Hela turned from where she was still talking to her brothers.

"Yes, Master Stark? Is everything well?" She started to make her way over, Fenrir and Sleipnir trailing behind her.

"Did you happen to show up on Earth by opening a big staircase in the middle of a road?"

"Oh," Hela blinked. "Yes, I did. I was careful to put everything back into proper order. Has there been a complication?"

"Just that you scared the crap out of a bunch of cops, kid," Tony snorted. It was actually kind of funny. He turned his attention back to Peter. "Everything's fine, Pete. Thor's niece just stopped by for a visit."

 _"_ _Woah! Cool!"_

"Is that Peter?" Pietro interjected. "Say hi to my similar name buddy for me, Tony!"

"Pietro says hi."

 _"_ _Tell him I say hi back!"_

"Pete says hello to you too." Pietro did a little fist bump. Tony fought a smile. "Alright Peter, I've gotta run. Thanks for keeping me in the loop."

 _"_ _O-of course, Mr. Stark! Glad to help! Have a good one!"_

"You too, kiddo." Tony smiled a bit as he hung up. Peter was a good kid. Then, he sighed. "We're _definitely_ gonna have to release a statement to the press about this."

"Ew,"

"Yeah. Big mood, Clint."

"'Big mood?' Really, Tony?"

"All the cool kids are saying it, Rhodey. You gotta keep up with the times."

"Guys, back on track," Steve cut in. "I don't think we should release a statement yet, Tony - at least not until Thor gets back. As much as I'd like to keep this in house, we'll have to not only make a statement but file a report as soon as we do, and I'd rather us have all our contacts in order before then."

"Fair," Tony nodded. He looked down at his phone. "FRIDAY, tell the press we're unavailable to comment at this time, would you?"

"Sure thing, Boss."

"I am sorry to have caused so much trouble," Hela said sheepishly. "That was...rather lacking in subtlety, on my part."

"Hey," Steve said kindly. "Things've been rough for you lately. Don't be to hard on yourself."

"Thank you, Master Rogers," Hela smiled. "However, I must apologize for something else. I have forgotten my manners again. Allow me to introduce the eldest of my younger brothers, Fenrir and Sleipnir Lokison."

Fenrir bounded forward with enthusiasm.

"Nice to meet you all!" he grinned. "Hela says you're friends with Uncle Thor! An elite warrior team!"

"Sure are, kid," Barnes said, the corner of his mouth quirking up. "Well, these guys are. Technically, I'm not an Avenger; I just mooch off their stuff."

"You have a cool metal arm."

"Thank Stark. He made it." Barnes said with a shrug. It had been an awkward sort of bonding activity between the two of them; a whole mess of sorry-I-killed-your-parents-while-having-been-brainwashed-I-genuinely-feel-terrible-about-that on Barnes's part, and a lot of I'm-trying-not-to-hate-the-person-you-really-are-for-that-since-it-wasn't-really-your-fault on Tony's.

Yeah, things with him and Barnes were still tense.

Fenrir, unaware of Tony's inner turmoil, turned to him with a grin.

"Can you make me a cool metal arm if I lose one of mine?"

"Uh, sure?" What was a person supposed to say to _that?_

"Fenrir, do _not_ take that as an invitation to cut off one of your arms."

"What? Hela, you wound me! I'd never!"

"Forgive me if I'm skeptical," Hela said, trying for deadpan but landing somewhere near fond. There were stifled chuckles from more than one Avenger. After a beat, Hela drew herself up again, tying her composure around her like a cloak.

"Fenrir tells me that he and and Sleipnir were sent here due to Uncle's arrival on Asgard. He knows not why, but…" Hela took a deep breath. "I understand that having more of my father's children under your roof is a less than ideal situation, but I fear my brothers would not have been sent here if Asgard was to remain safe for them."

"Please," Sleipnir said softly, and _shit_ , the poor kid was actually shaking. "We really don't mean to be trouble. We can keep out of your way - we're very good at taking care of ourselves, so long as you don't mind me being in equine form."

"Yeah!" Fenrir chimed in. "We can even stay outside if you don't have space or something. I mean, I've been living outside for the past four-hundred years. I can do it again."

Sleipnir nodded vigorously, and Tony's heart broke. He'd kill Odin himself, King of Asgard or no, for whatever he'd done to these kids.

"Space isn't really a problem," he said. And yeah, maybe he should've checked with the team first, but he'd already pulled the this-is-my-property executive decision card with Hela, and in for a penny, in for a pound, right? Better to ask for forgiveness than permission and all that - though he really would need to apologize to Clint. This whole thing must've been a lot for him. "I'm sure we can fix you up some rooms."

Fenrir grinned, grabbing Sleipnir by the shoulders and shaking him excitedly.

"We can stay!"

Hela smiled more sedately, but it was no less grateful, judging by the way she visibly sagged with relief. Yup, he'd made the right call.

"Thank you. You are, all of you, too kind."

 **A/N: You know the drill, buckle in for author's commentary. I hope these are at least somewhat interesting for those of you who read them; I feel like I'm doing you all a disservice by not keeping you updated on changes to canon that might not get full extrapolation in fic. Of course, I'll try to in-text explain as much as possible, but I can't rewrite like, three extra movies. That'd be cool though.**

 **(I also just like hearing myself talk)**

 **So! We get our first taste of Hela's POV, and I hope you enjoyed it! She was far easier to write the high-brow Asgardian language for than Thor. I guess you could explain that with the fact Thor's been spending a lot of time on earth – we see in** ** _Infinity War_** **that he's pretty good at code switching, so it's not too much of a stretch from canon. And Fenrir's a bit of a wild child, having spent his formative centuries captive in the Asgardian wilderness, so that explains him…**

 **Fun fact, I made Hela's favorite pizza one of my favorite pizzas. The friend I wrote** ** _In Alternity_** **for introduced me to it, and it's** ** _delicious_** **. It also seemed like something Bruce would eat, so he's the one to introduce it to Hela.**

 **I did decide to include Phil Coulson in this, though how much of** ** _Agents of SHIELD_** **canon will be sticking around is still up in the air. Obviously, I changed some things regarding Phil's resurrection, which uh, fucks with a lot of its canon. I did pick up on watching the show again for this fic though, and I'm honestly enjoying it more this time. That said, it has a different vibe than the greater MCU, which isn't exactly what I'm going for.**

 **Hela is 800 years old, which is, for our intents and purposes, the equivalent of a 16 year old human. I'd done all this math to make it work out, setting a 5000 year Asgardian equivalent to a 100 year old human based on a comment Loki makes in** ** _The Dark World_** **, but then I realized: to make Loki's age relative to the ages of his older kids make any sense, Asgardian aging cannot be linear in** ** _Sympathy for Monsters_** **canon. Whoops. This is a long way of saying that for the purposes of this fic, Asgardian (and Jotun) aging is rectangular hyperbolic. Hela and her siblings are still in the relatively linear beginning phase of the hyperbola, but Thor, Loki, and obviously Odin are beyond that phase. This also means that Thor being 15,000 years old as stated in** ** _Infinity War_** **does not apply.**

 **Another thing to address: the Accords. I'm gonna go on record here and tell you that I went into** ** _Civil War_** **expecting to be Team Cap and came out firmly Team Tony. I understand Steve's concerns - and canon definitely executed the Accords weirdly, considering the UN is not a government, and how did Ross get so much power if this was a primarily UN thing headed by T'Chaka, and shouldn't the Accords be able to be ammendend? – but here's the thing: Steve, you are no longer the little guy. You're now the man in power, and there's a** ** _reason_** **checks and balances are important. An unchecked government can become a dictatorship, and an unchecked superhero could become a supervillain. Even if that doesn't apply to Steve personally, he's not going to be the world's last hero.**

 **Anyway, I'll have to sit down with Katlewis2000, who knows much more about political logistics than me, to hammer out exactly how the Accords work for this fic's universe, but they're in place. Let's assume someone sat Steve and Team Cap down with lawyers and had the legal jargon explained – and that someone made sure Steve got caught up on more than pop culture. I find it hard to believe Nick Fury wouldn't make him study how politics, laws, and social movements have changed since he went under, but okay canon. Whatever you say.**

 **Last thing: Loki's gender identity. I wanted to include this in this chapter, but with all of the Avengers (bar Clint) being familiar enough with the mythology, I didn't get to talk much about full-sibling-ness and half-sibling-ness between the Loki's-kids. In this fic, Loki is genderfluid (as I believe was confirmed for comics canon), who generally uses he/him pronouns but is fine with any, and will occasionally ask to be referred to specifically by non-he/him pronouns.**

 **See ya next time!**


	6. The Allfather's Judgement

**Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel**

 **A/N: Hey everybody! I'm back! I'm so sorry for taking so long – my genomics class this past semester made a habit of kicking my ass and I didn't get…basically any time to write. I also didn't get as much time as I'd like to write during the break either, with the holiday season. I'd wanted to get at least two chapters of this done, and the next chapter of** ** _Curious Case_** **, but the stars did not align.**

 **I promise you though, this isn't abandoned! A few of you wonderful people left concerned reviews about that, and it's heartwarming to know this has been well liked enough that people want more updates. Thank you so much for taking the time to read and review this!**

 **Lastly, as of yesterday (01/18/19), I went back and made a handful of edits to the past five chapters. It's mostly just fixing some spelling errors and such, but I made sure to indicate what I did in the author's note at the beginning of each chapter if anyone wanted to know.**

 **Thanks for your patience with me!**

The light of the Bifrost retreated, and Thor found that Heimdall had set him and Loki down in the abandoned parking lot of an equally abandoned warehouse. He fumbled for his phone - a reinforced StarkPhone with an experimental, not yet tested software for inter-realm communication - and scrolled through until he found the application for maps and directions. It always awed Thor how quickly the mortals developed, and how much they were able to do with such simple tools.

Absently, Thor wondered how Midgard's GPS system compared to Asgardian guided cartography. Maybe he'd ask Loki if he cared to investigate it with him; it seemed like something his brother would be interested in.

Speaking of said brother, Loki had shifted himself into the form of a well-kept, besuited man with wavy ginger hair. He fussed with his scarf for a moment before turning to Thor.

"Your turn," Loki raised a hand towards him, green _sedir_ trailing from his fingers. "You're too conspicuous."

"That's fair," Thor shrugged, letting Loki's magic wash over him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mjolnir take on the shape of an umbrella. He wondered what the rest of the glamor looked like. "We can use my cell phone to obtain directions - it has a program that shows regional maps."

"Excellent," Loki stepped up, leaning to get a look at Thor's screen. "Once we have the relative position of Shady Acres Care Home to our current location, I can teleport us nearby."

Thor nodded wordlessly, looking up the address for Shady Acres Care Home on Google - which was, itself, another fascinating Midgardian invention. A few moments and a copy-and-paste into the GPS application later gave them the information they needed. Loki studied the map for a moment before laying a hand on Thor's shoulder. There was a small flash of light, and then the two found themselves in an alleyway in New York City proper.

"This way," Loki said, striding off before Thor had a chance to shake off the rather unpleasant tingling sensation that accompanied teleportation. Thor really couldn't blame him though - Hela's safety was at stake. If worry was eating at _him_ as her uncle, well…

Whatever Loki was feeling must've been a hundred-fold worse.

* * *

Shady Acres Care Home should have been a pleasant sort of place, with it's nice architecture and interior design, but only managed to feel stagnant with a sort of forced brightness. A few of Midgard's elderly eyed them curiously as they crossed the lobby. Thor gave them a smile and a little wave.

"Good afternoon," Loki said pleasantly, stepping up to the information desk and pulling a conjured ID from his suit pocket. "I'm Luke Bors - my brother and I are here to see our father, Oswald Bors, in room one-eighteen. Do we sign in here?"

"Mr. Bors?" The man behind the desk - Edward, according to his nametag - raised his eyebrows in surprise even as he took Loki's ID. "I don't think he's ever had visitors before."

"My brother and I both work overseas," Loki sighed with faux-sadness. "Neither of us can be here as much as we'd like. It's a shame, really."

"Oh! Well, I'm glad you're here now." Edward leaned forward, gesturing for Thor and Loki to do the same. "Though I feel like I should warn you two; your father has, um, become convinced he's, uh, Odin."

Thor shot a glare at the side of Loki's head. Loki, for his part, put on a face that was equal parts concerned, equal parts shocked.

"Like the Norse god?" he asked. Thor rubbed at his temples.

"Exactly. I just didn't want you to be too surprised when you go to see him."

"Of course, of course—"

" _Luke_ ," Thor interjected. "We should go actually see father."

"Right," Loki straightened up. "Thank you for all your help, Edward."

"No trouble!"

"I can't believe you, brother," Thor whispered as soon as they were far enough from the information desk. "You knew very well that father would be considered delusional when you checked him in here."

"Of course I did," Loki hissed back. "And considering the effects of Midgardian aging on the mind, I knew it wouldn't be too suspicious."

"...There's something particularly sinister about the fact you used that in your scheme."

"Oh, it's hardly the worst thing I've done. In fact, it's hardly the worst thing I've done in this city, all things considered—and here we are. Room one-eighteen."

Thor sighed and shook his head. There was no point in continuing this conversation. He knocked on the door.

"Father?"

"... _Thor_?" There was the sound of footsteps and fiddling with a lock. "It's about time you—" The door opened, revealing an Odin Allfather that, dressed as he was in a Midgardian sweatshirt and pants, looked even less like himself than Loki-as-Odin lounging on the throne of Asgard had. He stared at Thor in shock before his eye caught sight of Loki. " _You_ —were you in on this scheme of your brother's, Thor? Have you decided to betray me as well?"

"No! Father, I swear to you, I only learned of this today."

Odin squinted at him, scrutinizing, before relenting.

"I believe you. However, that leaves much to be explained. If you were coming to my aid, you would've come alone. What is it that you what so much that it brings both of you, disguised, to this place?"

"I think this would be better discussed inside." Loki interjected. Odin turned his glare on him then, but much like with Thor, whatever he saw made him relent.

"Alright. I will hear you out, but first you _are_ freeing me from these damned magic suppressors."

"Fine." Loki reached out a hand, and in a flash of green, the cuffs fell away. "Now you uphold your end of the bargain.

* * *

Odin's rooms at Shady Acres Care Home were much smaller than anything he'd had on Asgard, or even Thor's suite at the Compound. It consisted of a small living space with a kitchenette, an adjoining, equally small bedroom, and a bathroom. The rooms were not, however, in poor condition of any sort, and Thor felt a small sense of relief at the fact.

Loki shut the door behind them.

"So what is it?" Odin sat down in the armchair, looking both weary and irritated. "What brings you here after _four years_ with no word from either of you?"

"Dark news," Thor sat heavily on the adjacent sofa. Better to get right to the point. "Father, the Avengers and I have received news that Thanos plans to attack."

Odin sat up straight.

" _Thanos?_ "

"Aye, and according to our source, he plans to wipe out half of all life in the universe, though I know not yet by what means."

"The Infinity Stones." Loki's voice, cracked dry with horror, cut through the air like a knife. Thor looked up sharply, and found his brother as pale as he'd been on Svartalfheim. "So _that's_ why he's collecting them. He already has the soul stone, if I had given him the tesseract—"

Loki brought a shaking hand to his mouth, eyes staring blankly.

"—I would have only been putting Hela in more danger."

"Hela?" Odin barked. "What does Hela have to do with this?"

Thor's stomach sank.

 _Whelp. There was no avoiding it now._

"Father...Hela is our informant."

" _What?_ " Odin stood sharply, seeming to fill the room as the shadows suddenly lengthened. "Do not come to me speaking of Thanos when it is Hela Lokidottir who brings you here!"

"But father—!"

"But _nothing_ , Thor! We have long believed Thanos to be nothing more than a myth, and Hela is not so trustworthy for her testimony to change that belief."

"Hela has never been known to be a liar." Thor insisted. He wouldn't let this turn out like the Dark Elves again. He _wouldn't._

"But her father is!" Odin turned his head to glare at his younger son. "Children have been known to go to great extremes to please their parents. I will hear no more of this."

Odin turned, and with a wave of his hand, the door to his rooms at Shady Acres Care Home flew from his hinges. He stormed from the room, summoning his armor as he went. Thor and Loki hurried to follow.

"Allfather, I am begging you—"

"Silence, Loki! I have said that I will hear no more of this. Do not make me say it again."

They burst out the doors of Shady Acres Care Home onto the streets of New York. Edward, from his place at the desk, stared stunned after them.

"Father, you cannot do this!" Rage boiled in Thor's chest. "You _cannot_ cast aside Hela's safety - nay, the safety of all the Nine Realms - just because you do not trust your granddaughter!"

" _Do not tell me what I can and cannot do!_ " Odin boomed, and it seemed for a moment that even the bustle of the city fell silent. "Hela Lokidottir is a harbinger of Ragnarok. She cannot be trusted! And if you cannot understand that…"

Odin reached forward and sized Mjolnir from her place at Thor's side.

"If you cannot understand that, you are still not worthy of this hammer and its gifts. And you—" Odin turned on Loki. He snapped the fingers of his free hand, and in a flash of white light, the magic suppressing cuffs appeared around Loki's wrists. They glowed again, runes snaking around their circumference, and the glamors on Thor and Loki fell away. "You are not worthy of the gifts your mother gave you."

The two brothers stared in horror.

"You are, the both of you, banished from Asgard." Odin turned his eye skyward. "Heimdall, open the Bifrost."

In a flash of rainbow light, he was gone.

Thor turned to look at Loki, stunned.

"Brother, I—"

Then the ground vanished beneath them.

 **A/N: That's a wrap on chapter six, everyone! Sorry that it's one of the shorter chapters; I just really wanted to get this out before school started again.**

 **It's probably gonna be some time until chapter seven is out, in part because school starts again next week for me, and in part because Doctor Strange is going to be showing up next chapter and I am** ** _not_** **ready to tackle the culturally appropriative and otherwise insensitive mess that is.**

 **There's an obvious starting point, which is Make the Ancient One Tibetan, which I promise you will be done (if retroactively, since she's not actually in this), but it's more complicated than that. I just want to do it as right as I possibly can. I might be talking about this more over on my tumblr at some point, and if I do I'll link you (either directly on Ao3 or through my profile on FF.N).**

 **Another thing - I want to be** ** _very clear_** **that the Accords of the Sympathy!Verse are** ** _NOT_** **an Enhanced Individuals Registration Act. I don't think I was clear about this last chapter, and I want to be. There's a long, real-life history of why keeping lists or indexes or what-have-you of people with specific races/ethnicities/religions/etc is a very bad idea (a history paved with bigotry, eugenics, and genocide), and I well know why that's a bad thing. So no, the Sympathy!Verse will not be seeing an Enhanced Individuals Registration Act** ** _ever_** **. I actually have some worldbuilding backstory for this verse that involves something called the Sentient Rights Act, which was pioneered by the Avengers (unknowingly to them in conjunction with Coulson's team) after** ** _Avengers 1_** **to protect Bruce+the Hulk.**

 **I'll outline the specifics of its history later and link you guys, but the important things are this: the Sentient Rights Act is an international law offering the same protections to any sentient being that "regular" humans have. This would include: aliens (like Asgardians), androids (like Vision), mixed human individuals (like Inhumans and Peter Quill), humans that acquire enhancements (like Steve, Bucky, and Peter Parker), and otherwise enhanced individuals (like Mutants). The Sentient Rights Act has already been put in place by the time** ** _Sympathy for Monsters_** **starts.**

 **As for the Accords, think of them this way: they function as a supervisory code for elite paramilitary teams and individuals fighting catastrophe on the international level (like the Avengers). It has clauses for using superpowers** ** _only in the context of doing something with those powers that involves other people's lives in the balance_** **. Like fighting supervillains and the collateral damage that can cause.**

 **It exists for the same reasons medical doctors are subject to a board of review or military officials are subject to tribunal/court martial if they're doing something wrong. It does not only apply to superpowers either - non-enhanced individuals using only their bodies or tech (like Clint and Tony) to fight catastrophe/supervillains are subject to the Accords. It's about accountability for teams like the Avengers. It only applies on the international (and maybe national) level. Local vigilantes like Daredevil/Luke Cage/Jessica Jones/Spider-man are subject to local law, which are in turn subject to the Sentient Rights Act. (The Accords themselves are also subject to the Sentient Rights Act, of course. Signing them doesn't mean you're signing away your rights - just agreeing to be held accountable for your actions. Just like how being a doctor subject to a review board just means you can get in legal hot water if you malpractice, not that the government can issue a hit on you. Same ideas apply, though Secretary Ross might not like it).**

 **The Accords probably lay precedent for regulation on things like using your superpowers in the military or in the medical field as well, because both these things involve other people's lives (though there's also probably a superpower related version of Good Samaritan Laws). Nobody is required to disclose that they have powers unless they want to use them in such a way that they hold other's lives in the balance with them (combat so that you use your powers to fight and medicine). John Smith, who's got earthbending-type powers he uses to make sculptures is under no obligation to tell anyone about his abilities. Jane Doe, who does open-heart surgery using her telekinesis, however, does - and just like how doing regular surgery without a license can get you in trouble, doing telekinetic surgery without it can too. She would not if she was doing open heart surgery the non-telekinetic way. Hope this is making sense; feel free to ask any questions (respectfully though, please!) and I'll do my best to answer them.**

 **I think that's all for now. See you next time!**


	7. The Sorcerer Supreme

**Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel**

 **A/N: …Hey everyone; I am so,** ** _so_** **sorry this took so long to put out. This last semester of school was** ** _killer_** **, not to mention I was having trouble figuring out the exact order I wanted the immediate next events. I'm really anxious for this to be good - I never expected the response that I've gotten to this and I don't want to disappoint. Thank you all so much.**

 **However! This can't even begin good if I never write it, so onward we must charge. Worst comes to worst, I can go back and edit things – speaking of which, I noticed some of the formatting on ao3 (the copy seems fine) got messed up while I was doing a readthrough of my old chapters. I hopefully fixed everything, but I also don't know what caused it or if it could happen again. I'll be keeping an eye on it though.**

 **Also, I'm really sorry that the Wakandans still haven't shown up. I wanted to have them be "on screen" in like, chapter two or three, and now we're at seven and that still hasn't happened. The characters keep getting away from me, and I keep realizing that certain things need to happen plot-wise before making an official contact with a foreign power. Fortunately, I think I'm done figuring out what needs to happen first, so we should at least be seeing T'Challa and Okoye, if not Shuri, in the next two chapters.**

 **Thank you so much for your patience!**

* * *

The next thing Thor knew, the wind was being knocked out of him as he hit the ground back-first, staring dazedly up into New York's sky.

Wait, no. That wasn't quite right.

Except it wasn't exactly _wrong_ either, was it? He was looking up at the clouds, but those clouds were bounded by a whirling ring of orange sparks. Beyond that boundary, however, was the cavernous ceiling of some unknown building. It certainly didn't feel like he was laying on sidewalk cement either - the ground beneath him felt smooth, like marble or tile.

Then the orange ring of New York sky winked out, leaving only ceiling behind. Well, that confirmed it; they had definitely been teleported.

"Brother!" Thor jolted up, that realization snapping him out of the haze he had been in. What if they had been separated? Newly weakened as they were, he dared not consider the consequences if they had been. "Loki, are you still with—"

Relief hit him as hard as the initial panic had. To his left, Loki was pushing himself up from where he'd also been rendered supine.

"I am _fine,_ Thor." Loki waved a dismissive hand at him, though he looked too pale to truly be telling the truth. "However, I am concerned with who teleported us, and exactly to where."

"And I'm concerned about what just happened in front of Shady Acres Care Home," a new voice cut in. Thor followed it to its source and found two men - both with tan-brown skin, though the taller of the two was paler and had a sharper nose - staring down at them. They both wore stern expressions, though taller's carried a distinct air of irritability the shorter's did not.

Also, the taller had a beard that looked remarkably like Tony's. Despite the circumstances, Thor found himself highly amused by that fact.

"Furthermore," he who had a beard like Tony Stark continued, "I want to know what the war criminal Loki - who was reported _dead_ \- is doing back on earth."

"And exactly what business do you have asking that?" Loki wore a smile that was more of a snarl, and Thor felt an acute sort of dread pool in his stomach. He knew that face, and he knew that whatever happened next would not be pleasant for whoever was on the receiving end of it. Loki had both caused and resolved diplomatic incidents while wearing that expression, all with a certain amount of viciousness.

Better to stop this before it started, then.

"More than that," Thor interrupted, "What reason do we have to trust you with our dealings?"

Loki blinked, thrown for a loop, before tipping his head in Thor's direction in concession. He almost seemed impressed. A smug sort of glee bloomed in Thor's chest, though he was careful to keep it off is face - and Loki had thought that Thor would never learn diplomacy. Ha!

Of course, there was a time when Loki hadn't been so wrong on that; Thor had never been terribly interested in diplomacy before his fall to earth. He'd left that to his brother without much of a thought.

The smug sort of glee faded.

 _How things could change._

"I am Earth's Sorcerer Supreme," the taller man said, nodding his head at Loki. "I am sure your brother knows what that means."

"And yet you look like no Sorcerer Supreme that I have ever met," Loki shrugged. "And with my magic bound - which I am sure you saw, to know when to capture us - I cannot use my arcane senses to provide a sound judgement. I'm afraid you'll have to do better than that.

"Perhaps Wanda is our best bet then," Thor interjected.

"Who, the untrained witch?" the Sorcerer Supreme, incredulous, scoffed. Loki looked similarly dubious.

"Aye. Untrained though she may be, she has had her gifts her entire life and has a particular gift for magicks of the mind. I have little doubt she will be able to assess your veracity. In any case—" Thor's phone buzzed. He fished it out of his pocket.

 ** _You Know Who I Am:_** Thor what the fuck!?

 ** _You Know Who I Am:_** WHY DID THE NEWS JUST SHOW THIS?

 ** _You Know Who I Am:_** [ ]

 ** _You Know Who I Am:_** IS THAT LOKI? I THOUGHT YOU SAID HE WAS DEAD?

 ** _You Know Who I Am_** _:_ ALSO WHERE ARE YOU GUYS? You okay?

"—Ah! Just as I was saying," Thor brandished the phone at the Sorcerer Supreme and his companion. "The team - which is to say, the Avengers, of course. Surely you know the Avengers - is bound to be concerned. I believe it will be in our best interests to meet up with them anyway."

The Sorcerer Supreme looked contemplative for a moment. He looked back at his companion, who shrugged.

"Can't see why it would hurt," the shorter man said.

The Sorcerer Supreme nodded, then sighed, and turned back to Thor.

"Alright," he said, throwing a hand out in front of himself. Those same whirling, orange sparks appeared in the air. "Let's get you to your team. Follow me."

* * *

"What the fu—!"

The assembled Avengers - plus Thor's three niblings - jumped to attention as orange sparks appeared in the air. Weapons and fists were raised in seconds, Fenrir was definitely snarling, and _damn_ , was Clint happy to have his bow with him this time.

"Boss, there appears to have been a security breach," FRIDAY's voice chimed from above.

"Yeah, I can see that, Fri."

The sparks opened up into a portal, because of course that's what would happen around here, and four figures stepped through. They were led by a pair of Asian men, one of whom Clint suspected to be biracial and also wore a red cape and maybe had modeled his beard after Tony's. Thor was there too, which was good, but was distinctly sans-Mjolnir, which was bad. It looked like the meeting with Odin had gone _pretty shitty_ , to say the least.

And then there was—

"I'm Dr. Stephen Strange, and this is Wong—"

And then there was Clint's personal worst nightmare, so he heard exactly none of the rest of that introduction.

You know what they say about tunnel vision? Or not being able to look away from a train wreck? Yeah, this was like all of that rolled into one. It also sure didn't help that Clint's _literal job_ could be summed up as: be good at visual observation or die.

And also shoot stuff with arrows, but that wasn't the relevant part of his job right now.

The point was that Clint could only deal with so many terrible happenings or life-altering realizations happening at once, and today had been _full of them_.

Being denied the simple joy of his donuts? Check.

Finding out Loki had offspring, even if said offspring were actually pretty good kids? Check.

Finding out the apocalypse was coming? Check.

Finding out via the news that the guy who'd played with your brain and taken away your free will was actually alive, contrary to popular belief? Check.

Finally, now Loki was _actually physically in front of him_ where Clint couldn't fake himself out and pretend the news footage was fake – which wasn't even the worst part of that. No, the worst part of the fact that Loki was actually physically in front of him, Clint could see that his eyes were green.

Last time they'd been blue.

Fuck.

Clint would bet his box of donuts that it had actually been Thanos behind the invasion of New York.

 _Fuck_.

"I—I need a minute."

* * *

 **A/N: And my Biracial-Asian-American!Doctor Strange AU rears its head. I mentioned in last chapter's author's note that in addition to (albeit retroactively) having the Ancient One be Tibetan again (as she always should have been, like seriously), I had some things up my sleeve for Strange himself. This is what was up! The Doctor Strange we see in the movies and the comics is an example of a racist trope called the "Mighty Whitey" trope – more specifically, a white man going to Asia and becoming the Best at Asian Things. Sigh. By having him be Asian American+Biracial, his story becomes one about a member of the Asian diaspora reconnecting with his culture. Much better, and much less racist.**

 **But Alex Tir, you might ask, you mentioned some complications last author's note! This seems simple! Here's the issue: ideally, Strange is a biracial**

 ** _Tibetan_** **American specifically, not just generally Asian American. Different Asian ethnic groups are not identical. I, however, know very little about the Tibetan American experience (nor am I an expert on Tibetan culture by** ** _any_** **stretch), and the internet has been less than helpful. I have found a total of** ** _one_** **article about Tibetan Americans beyond the Doctor Strange controversy, and that was written by a white man. I don't exactly trust it. And while in an ideal world I'd hire a Tibetan co-writer, I don't actually have the resources for that. So, I've got some options, and I wanted to ask you, the readers, if you have any advice.**

 **Option 1: Strange is Tibetan American, but I touch on it only briefly and talk mostly about more general Asian American and biracial Asian experiences when I do bring up his Asianness. (I'm also, obviously, not about to world-build on Kamar-Taj in any situation, super not my place).**

 **Option 2: Strange is still Asian American, but not Tibetan American (maybe Vietnamese American? Definitely not Chinese American though, because Tibet-China politics). The Ancient One, for clarification, stays Tibetan, and it's mentioned that she gave him some pointers on connecting with his specific ancestral culture. (Pros: I can actually speak on this without being** ** _way_** **out of line, cons: he's not Tibetan, and that really feels like rendering the point moot.)**

 **Option 3: reader suggested**

 **Any advice? I'm genuinely not sure what to do; I don't want to accidentally make a bad situation worse.**


	8. Amateur Philosophy in Mind Tricks

**A/N: Happy New Year everyone! I am so sorry about the wait between updates. I'd wanted to have this out in September of 2019, but that clearly didn't happen. Hopefully the next chapter will be up in a shorter time (especially considering part of it is already written), but I don't want to make any promises just to let you all down.**

 **Speaking of which, I'd like to thank all of you for sticking with me and this fic despite the update schedule. You all are consistently so kind in your comments; it really makes my day. I'd also like to give a special thanks to Ao3 User GraceEliz and a guest reviewer "Abby" over on for their feedback re: Strange's ethnicity. They helped me cement my choice to make him biracial Tibetan-American. Thanks guys!**

 **Also, this chapter includes some dialogue in sign language, which I've never written before! I hope I did okay – and if anyone who knows ASL has any critiques, please feel free to let me know. I also went a little bit reference happy with this chapter, so I hope that's fun.**

 **On with the fic!**

* * *

For a moment, there was only the sound of Clint's retreating footsteps. The assembled others had frozen in their places - in Tony's case, mid-accusatory point at _Dr. Steven Strange_ , who he'd already decided he didn't like - at Clint's hasty retreat, all eyes on the space he had just vacated.

"Fucking shit," Tony swore, settling back onto his heels.

"I'll go after him," Nat said, leaving no room for argument. "You guys better keep me updated when I get back."

Without waiting for a response, she jogged off in the direction Clint had vanished.

"Fucking shit!" Tony repeated. "I knew this'd be hard for him, and I still had to go and be a jackass to him earlier."

"At least you're not the one with psych training," Sam said tiredly. "I was ribbing him too, and I don't have that excuse."

Tony and Sam made eye contact, and with it made a silent pact to go apologize to Clint together later.

"Well, as lovely as it is to see you two self-flagellating," Loki drawled, expression sour, "we have more important things to be discussing now."

"Brother—"

"You do not get to talk here," Steve snapped at Loki. "If you hadn't tried to make his brain into a picasso, we wouldn't be in this situation." He opened his mouth to say more, but froze at the sight of Fenrir and Sleipnir staring at him with wide eyes from where they'd ducked behind Hela when the adults started arguing. The way Hela was looking at him - blank faced and sharp eyed, unjudging but analytical - was almost worse. Instead, Steve took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose as he exhaled. "That being said, let's just get this over with. Let's just—conference table's this way."

* * *

Natasha found Clint sitting against the wall across from the team's main lab, curled up with his face against his knees and his hearing aids on the ground to his right. She sighed sadly and strode forward, telegraphing her movements the whole way, before laying a hand on Clint's shoulder. He jolted, but sighed when he saw it was her.

"Hey Nat." He said. Natasha felt a sympathetic tightening in her chest; he sounded exhausted.

"Hey," Natasha signed. "Do you want space or would you prefer company?"

Clint squinted, clearly contemplating.

"...Company," he finally signed. "Just give me a minute to sort out my thoughts."

"No problem." She punctuated the statement with a nod, settling in to sit cross-legged in front of him. They sat like that for a good while before Clint groaned and thunked his head back against the wall.

"Why does it have to be like this!" he signed angrily. "Hela was one thing; it's not that her being here wasn't stressful, but she was coming for asylum. And she hadn't seen Loki in fuck knows how long. It was easy enough to just think of her as Thor's niece and this whole bullshit as work. But then…"

"But then the boys showed up," Natasha finished understandingly. "And it got a little harder to ignore."

"Yeah. And now the great green cosmic jackass is here himself. Just... _god_ , 'Tasha. The guy stuck his magical fingers in my brain and used it like play-doh." A few tears slid down Clint's face. "Why is it too much to ask that I never have to see him again?"

"It shouldn't be," Natasha shrugged. "But we picked about the craziest job on the planet, so I guess we're just shit out of luck."

Clint chuckled a bit. It was a tired thing, but Natasha counted it as a victory anyway.

"Well, sometimes our job sucks. Maybe I should just retire to a farm and get a dog and...be an arrow farmer, I guess."

"Clint, I love you, but what the _actual fuck_ is an arrow farmer?"

In reply, Clint chose to eschew ASL and gave her a more famous American hand sign: the middle finger. Natasha laughed.

"Bitch," she signed back at him. He just stuck his tongue out. Natasha was tempted to relax at the sight, but decades of experience with the world spitting in her face kept her on high alert. This couldn't be it.

She was proven right a moment later when Clint sobered sharply.

"Here's the thing 'Tasha," his signing was steady as it ever was, but the frown on Clint's face told Natasha she wasn't going to like what was coming next. "I'm suddenly not sure the play-doh brain was actually Loki's idea."

Natasha's jaw dropped open, and in her shock she found herself vocalizing her response in addition to signing it. A single, emphatic:

" _What?_ "

* * *

If, for some indiscernible reason, Tony was forced to pick a single word to describe the mood at the conference table, he would pick tense. Uncomfortable, bad, and _yikes_ were close runners up, and he'd bet money Peter would pick " _oof_ " or something else completely off the rails in that patented young people way, but if there was ever a situation that the phrase "tension thick enough to cut with a knife" ever applied to, this was it.

So, tense. He was going with tense.

In fact it was so tense that the team had just clumped up with whoever they were closest to, empty chairs yawning between the subgroups of Tony-Rhodey-Bruce and Steve-Barnes-Sam and Wanda-Pietro-Vision, bookended between the Wonderful Wizards of Oz and the Asgardians at either end of the table.

Actually, that wasn't quite accurate.

Thor and Loki may have been localized together, but Hela had chosen to sit down by the wizards where she could not only keep her father in her line of sight, but also keep herself between said father and the door. Fenrir and Sleipnir had hesitated, looking rapidly between their parent and sister before nervously sitting by Hela. Both boys kept looking at her as if to ask for answers, but Hela only stared forward passively, watching Loki with careful eyes.

It was, in a word, creepy.

And Tony'd thought _his_ family had issues.

"So, first thing's first," Rhodey broke the silence, bless him. " _You're_ not dead."

"Clearly not." Loki looked unimpressed - not that he ever looked otherwise. Well, except to look smarmy. Loki did smarmy well.

"Care to explain?"

"I faked my death, Colonel Rhodes. God of Lies, remember?"

"Seriously?" Sam cut in, staring at Loki incredulously. "What is wrong with you? You have to know your not in any position to be antagonistic towards us."

Loki considered Sam carefully.

"...Samuel Wilson, correct?"

"It's Lieutenant Wilson or 'Falcon' to you."

"Lieutenant Wilson, then." Loki nodded in concession. "You're entirely right, of course. I must apologize. I haven't...entirely been myself lately."

Bruce snorted. Tony couldn't help but agree.

"We're wasting time," Strange interjected sharply. "As I was trying to tell you before, I am Earth's Sorcerer Supreme, and as such it is my duty to protect this realm from magical threats. However, _those two,_ " he glared pointedly at Thor and Loki, "one of whom _is_ the magical threat in question, refuse to believe me about it."

"It's rather more that we have no way of confirming it than refusing to believe it," Loki replied. "And before I attract the ire of Lieutenant Wilson once more, I promise that distinction is an important one. It's why we're here with Dr. Strange and Mr. Wong in the first place."

"Aye. The Allfather bound my brother's magic - they would have to know sooner or later Loki, don't look at me like that - and so we have no way of confirming Dr. Strange's claim. I was hoping Wanda could be of assistance in doing so."

"But why bring them back here?" Pietro asked. "Sorcerer Supreme or not, I don't remember him helping during the Battle of New York. We don't know if he's going to help."

"We weren't exactly going to just let them go," Wong deadpanned, squinting at Pietro out of the corner of his eye. Pietro grimaced.

"You've got me there. Though to be fair to me I have midterms and haven't slept in thirty-six hours."

"He's also drank about twenty cups of coffee today alone," Vision commented mildly.

"Wow, no need to call me out like that, Vis."

"That is...incredibly unhealthy." Strange said, looking mildly horrified. Served him right, in Tony's opinion, for barging in unannounced.

" _Pssh._ What are you, some kind of doctor?"

"... _Yes_."

"Oh." Pietro blinked. "I didn't realize you were that kind of doctor."

"Pietro has a point though," Tony cut in, snapping his fingers over the conference table to get their attention and saving Pietro from the spotlight. Not only were they getting wildly off topic, he suspected this conversation would turn into another round of caffeine-addiction-callout if left to its own devices. "Why shouldn't we just show the two of you the door? We're kinda in the middle of something."

"Something which is clearly in the realm of my business as Sorcerer Supreme, considering it's brought the _presumed-dead_ , magical war criminal known as Loki back to Earth, or have we forgotten that fact!"

"Yes, butI said before that Pietro had a point: you _didn't help_ when Lokester over there threw a hissy fit and _invaded Earth with an alien army_ \- which was, I dunno, kind of a big deal on this planet! I don't think I should have to remind you of that. And hey, maybe I'm wrong, but that sounds like it should be 'Sorcerer Supreme' business to me. So, _why should we trust you?_ "

"It's really not that simple—"

"Loathe as I am to admit it, if he is who he says he is, we could use him." Loki cut Strange off. "As Thor so wonderfully pointed out, I am currently without my magic, and we will _need_ more magic than we currently have available to us to accomplish our goals."

"Didn't we already tell you to be quiet?" Rhodey raised an eyebrow. Tony discreetly held out a palm for a high five under the table; Rhodey was the _best._ "We've _already_ established that you're the God of Lies, your opinion really doesn't mean much. So, Thor? What's your opinion on this?"

"For once, Loki does not lie," Thor shrugged. "So long as Hela is comfortable with it - and Dr. Strange is truthful, of course - I second his and Mr. Wong's inclusion."

"An ally is an ally, I do not object." Hela said.

Rhodey nodded.

"Alright then - Dr. Strange, Mr. Wong, are you alright with Wanda verifying your story?"

Both wizards nodded. Wanda stood up from her seat beside Vision.

"Just try to relax," she said, raising a glowing hand to Strange's temple. "You might feel some slight pressure or a tickling sensation, but that's to be expected."

Strange nodded. A few moments later, Wanda left him and moved over to Wong. Then she turned to the group and nodded.

"From what I can tell, they're both telling the truth. Dr. Strange really is both a medical doctor and the Sorcerer Supreme, and Mr. Wong has long tended a library with an extensive magical archive."

"Should the Good Wizards choose to join us, perhaps Mr. Wong should speak with my Noble Isobel." Hela said absently. "They long tended to Helheim and its archives until I was appointed as its Queen and Goddess."

"Alright then. We can check with Clint and Natasha later, but so long as nobody here has any objections..." Rhodey paused to look around the table. Seeing no negative reactions, he continued. "Welcome aboard then."

"Before we continue, may I make an inquiry of my own?" Hela asked. Upon receiving affirmation, Hela nodded her head and stood. "Loki Odinson, Second Heir of Asgard, I ask you this: are _you_ worth trusting?"

"Hela, you can't—" Sleipnir grabbed at his sister's sleeve.

"I must."

"That's our _father_ , Hela! He _saved us!_ Fenrir and I, we would still be..." his voice choked off, eyes watering.

"I know," Hela lay a gentle hand on Sleipnir's shoulder, bending to look her still-seated brothers in the eye. "I _know_. Yet...I no longer know who he is. But I've done the paperwork, and I owe it to you as my brothers, and to the Nine Realms as a Queen, and to myself…" she straightened and returned to looking Loki square in the eyes. "So I ask again, father: why should we trust you? What _happened_ to you to make you what you've become?"

"I might have an answer to that."

Tony, who had been absorbed in the scene playing out in front of him, jumped - as did more than one of the others assembled. Turning, he found Clint standing in the doorway, Natasha behind him, looking as exhausted but determined as he had staring down a Chitauri leviathan their first day as a team.

As for the atmosphere in the room? Well, tense didn't even begin to cover it.

* * *

"I know it sounds crazy, 'Tasha, but I'm not kidding." Clint was signing furiously. "I mean, what kind of coincidence would it have to be for him to have green eyes now but blue eyes then? And yeah, space wizard or whatever, but _Chitauri-staff-mind-control blue?_ That's a little too on the nose. Not to mention sometimes he'd do this...thing...in his base where he'd just zone out for a while, and—"

"Clint," Natasha interrupted him. "You don't have to convince me. I believe you."

"Oh! Good. Anyway, I don't think it was as complete mind control as whatever he did to me and Selvig, but... _god_ , I just wanted to hate the guy in peace, you know? But what if he's like Barnes? Committed a lot of crimes but due to brainwashing and torture and mind control?"

"For the record, even if Loki's situation is anything like Barnes, you don't just have to automatically forgive him. Emotions don't work like that."

"You've been listening to Wanda's psychology rants, haven't you?"

"Maybe. Also, Fury made me go through a _lot_ of counselling when I first joined SHIELD. The point is that you can take this at your own pace."

"Thanks 'Tasha."

"Don't mention it," she smiled. "In any case, I still think Loki's an asshole. The first thing he should've done after showing up here was apologize to you, not to mention when he nearly levelled a small town during our first contact with Asgard, which I'm guessing would be pre-Thanos. You can _at least_ get petty revenge."

Clint snorted.

"I guess not everyone gets the opportunity to prank the Norse God of Chaos." He sighed. "Thanks 'Tasha."

"No problem."

"...We should probably go tell the team about this, right? It's kind of important."

"Yeah."

"Gross."

* * *

If there was one thing Hela Lokidottir knew about life, it was that fiction and reality had the strangest ways of changing places in only a moment. When she was four-hundred, she had gone from being a child visiting her grandmother, to a criminal on trial ( _her fear shaking the stone foundations of Asgard's palace along with her, chunks of the throne room's ceiling crashing down—_ ), to being crowned Queen of Helheim while still wearing her nightgown ( _alone in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people, feeling strangely orphaned with Mother and Father and Sigyn and Glut all so many worlds away_ ) in the span of a few hours. When she was seven-hundred and ninety-six, she was confronted with the reality that her father had been using his famous silver tongue on her every time he had denounced Asgard's history of conquest and imperialism, for he had just invaded Midgard, shattering the rose-colored glasses she didn't know she had in the process.

No, Hela had not survived four-hundred years as a child queen under the eye of a grandfather willing to execute her by being blind to such things. Instead she sharpened her senses to such critical moments, learned how to manipulate them to her advantage and how to fake being unaffected—

"You weren't the mastermind behind the invasion of New York, were you" Barton squinted at Hela's father. " _Thanos_ was."

—And still, nothing had prepared her for this. She watched the color drain from her father's face, knowing she probably looked much the same.

"Clint, explain," Rogers prompted.

"The eyes—his eyes are green now. They were blue before. Tesseract blue. I think he wasn't all that different as the rest of us flying monkeys; a pawn with just a little more freedom on his mind control leash."

It only took a moment, but Hela knew her father was wrestling his emotions under control, smoothing them out behind a placid facade. She'd done the same thing countless times herself.

"Excellent job, Barton," Loki drawled, clapping slowly. "I have to say it's sad none of you figured it out earlier. I'm the God of _Lies_. The _Silvertongue_. If I had been the mastermind, do you really think I would've needed to mind control you humans killing each other? Your planetary politics are a disaster - a few well placed words and you'd all have been doing the work for me."

Now, that _did_ sound in line with what Hela knew with her father, if that could be trusted at all.

" _Thor may be my brother, but he wouldn't know finesse if it kissed him," Loki had once said laughingly to Angrboda as Hela scribbled by the fireplace, Jor and Fenrir outside playing in the snow. "He won't get that hammer of his back without my help."_

" _How lucky he is to have you then," Angrboda snickered. "And how lucky I am to have found a wife in someone so cunning. Now go rescue Asgard's golden prince from himself. Norns, to see the look on Thrym's face when you steal his prize out from under him..."_

"Wait, he was being mind controlled?" Barnes - no, he'd asked to be called Bucky - spoke up for the first time since Hela'd arrived. "What is _with_ people and that shit?"

"I was, to a degree. Thanos isn't the kind to just let an Infinity Stone out of his sight on a whim. It was a calculated risk he thought would ensure him another, cementing his control of me as another one of his 'children' along the way. A 'win-win,' if you will." Loki smirked. Hela, however, only felt sick to her stomach. Thanos once had her father in his grip? "However, I've never been good at doing what I'm told, and he _certainly_ never counted on your having a Hulk."

" _Infinity Stones?_ " Strange asked, his face dark. "What—"

"They're fancy magic space rocks, Strange."

"I know what an Infinity Stone is, Stark. What I want to know is who Thanos is and what he's doing with them."

"Thanos is a Titan who has taken up mass murder as a hobby." All traces of humor were gone from Loki's voice. "He's fond of taking lost members of various societies and remaking them to his use - do not ask me about the process, there are things I do not wish to speak of in front of my children - under the guise of adoption. He's collecting the Infinity Stones for some fell purpose, but I could not tell you the specifics of why."

"He wants to slaughter half the universe as an offering to me; that must be why he wants them." Hela added, her voice shaking and her hands gripping the arms of her chair so tightly the metal twisted, but she couldn't bring herself to care. "He wants me as his bride."

"Queen Hela has asked us for asylum and assistance in defeating Thanos," Romanoff said from where she was leaning against the wall by the door. "We've already contacted Fury - he's agreed to gather his allies and get us in contact with King T'Challa of Wakanda."

"Armageddon and pedophilia," Strange murmured almost to himself, grimacing. "And you want our help fighting it?"

"Assuming my teammates have already confirmed you are who you say you are? Yes."

Strange looked at Wong.

"I say we help them," Wong said simply.

"Yes," Strange nodded. "I wholeheartedly agree."

* * *

 **A/N: Just a couple of wrap-up notes this time! If anyone's confused about Angrboda calling Loki her wife in the flashback, I mentioned a few chapters back in an author's note that Loki is genderfluid, and while he usually uses he/him pronouns and masculine references (prince, father, etc), sometimes he'll request specifically to be referred to with either feminine or gender-neutral pronouns and terms. It was one of those times in the flashback.**

 **Also, all of Loki's kids generally call him "father" (bar when requested otherwise), including Sleipnir. It always struck me as kinda transphobic to have Sleip call Loki "mother" regardless of Loki's gender identity just because Loki birthed him. That said, I'm cis, so I could be really wrong (speaking of which, if any genderfluid or nonbinary people have critique/suggestions for how I'm writing Loki, feel free to let me know. I know it's just fic, but I want to do any representation I do right.)**

 **Wanda and Pietro are finishing up their college educations, which were interrupted by the Sokovian Civil War and then by Ultron. They attend part time (on account of having jobs as Avengers), and are finishing up their last year at the time of this fic. Wanda is majoring in psychology and Pietro is double majoring in history and something else I haven't yet decided on.**

 **Isobel is an OC - from what I understand, in the myths, Hel has two unnamed servants. "Isobel" is the stand-in name I gave one of them, and despite not being very Norse whatsoever, it stuck. Also, they're nonbinary (they/them pronouns)!**

 **Lastly, this fic is not going to be a ship-heavy one. I am but a simple aroace who craves stories about found family and platonic affection, and that's really what I'm interested in writing here. However, Loki's relationships with his wives will inherently have to be addressed, considering**

 _ **Sympathy**_ **is about their kids. I also plan on having Pepperony, ThorJane, and Danbeau in the background, but they won't be the focus of the story by any stretch. I'll keep you posted if anything changes.**


End file.
